And Then I Met The Doctor
by Gallifrey'sBest
Summary: The Doctor meets a strange, exciting girl who knows all about him. What goes on as they travel through time and space? FYI, since I got a review about it, sorry spoiler, I know, but Doctor/OC.
1. The Familiar Blue Box

**Hi, new story finally :)**

**I don't own Doctor Who, apparently I'm not supposed to tell anyone I do, either. Anyway...enjoy!**

I was bored. It was school. School was always boring and today was no exception. I glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time and finally the bell rang. I darted from the class so I could get my books from my locker before going out to the portables in front of my school for my next classes.

I made my way to my locker, mumbling in annoyance at the fact of going outside to the portables. For sure, I'd definitely prefer being at home watching _Doctor Who_: my favorite show ever. Even the Tardis couldn't take me somewhere where I would hate it.

My locker was in a smaller branch of hallway with a few classes near it, but they were under construction and not occupied. I was the only student at my locker, so by saying that, I mean I was alone.

Then, as I shuffled things around in my locker, I heard a familiar sound. It was like wind, but with a musical undertone. I recognized it immediately: the sound of the Tardis. But it couldn't be; the Tardis wasn't real.

I looked around the empty hallway and before my eyes, the blue phone box faded into view. I almost screamed. It was the Doctor! I would have shouted David Tennant or Matt Smith or something else fangirlish, except I'd just witnessed it appearing out of thin air, so it couldn't be an actor. I crammed my bag in my locker and stared as the door opened.

The Doctor stepped out. He was wearing a pinstripe suit and had brown spiky hair. It was the Tenth Doctor, my all time favorite. He looked around for a moment before noticing me. He smiled, after looking confused with his surroundings.

"Oh, 'ello there. You mind telling me when it is right now?" he asked cheerfully in the familiar British accent I especially adored.

"You're the Doctor," I spoke quietly, not believing my eyes.

"Yes I am," he paused and furrowed his eyebrows, "Do I know you?"

"Omd," I whispered before snapping out of it and realizing the obvious, "You're in my school! You can't be here. Well," I paused in thought after saying _well,_ as I'd made a habit of after watching one Doctor Who episode, "Partly because you're not real. But mainly, what will the teachers say if they see you! Or the Tardis?" I exclaimed in a loud whisper.

He looked at me curiously, "Have we met before? How do you know about my Tardis?"

"I'll explain in a bit, but you have to move the Tardis. It's not normal around here, in America."

"Ah, America, I haven't been to America in a while. I like America. America's good. Not much ever wrong with America," he said to no one in particular, as I watched in concealed awe and adoration. His self-conversations were a reason I loved him.

Then I ran forward and pushed him into the Tardis.

"You have to go. I'm sorry, but police boxes have never been normal here, let alone in 2010! And what will people do when they find one here, in the school? Plus someone will hear you. Go, time-travel somewhere else, but where no one notices you."

The Doctor spun around to face me.

"You know too much about me. How you know about the time-traveling, I don't know yet. But promise me you'll explain everything?" he demanded.

I nodded furiously and he grinned, at ease once again. "Well then, _Allonsy_!" With that, he pulled me into the Tardis and began pushing buttons all over the panels.

I watched stunned, what had just happened was catching up to me and I leaned against the wall for support. I looked around.

"It _is_ bigger on the inside, more than I thought it'd be from my usual perspective." I mumbled, then I caught what he'd said, "You mean I get to come with you to, wherever? I get to ride in the Tardis _with you_?"

He adorable grin didn't waver, "'Course you are! How else would you explain how you know about all this?"

Then he hit a final button and the room shook. I stumbled and fell to the floor. He held out a hand, which I gratefully took, and steadied me against a seat.

"Omd, I'm in the Tardis. With the Doctor. Man, everyone who knows me would be so jealous if they knew. _The Doctor_. I'm in heaven," I whispered to myself.

"What was that?" the Doctor swung around beside me as the Tardis ceased its shaking.

"Nothing," I said too quickly, and blushing.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond. Instead he threw open the door. Outside was a lot of empty space. I stared out at the Earth below us.

"Is this good enough?" he teased.

I gasped as I looked around. It was unreal. We were in space!

"Now then," the Doctor said, shutting the door, "Back to business. How do you know me? How do you know about the Tardis? How do you know about time-travel? How do you—"

"One question at a time," I covered his mouth with my hand, giggling inside, "Though I guess they are all the same answer. You're not real. And right now you're alone. How come you don't have a companion now? What has happened so far then? Rose? Martha? Donna? River? " the last part about companions I had been talking quieter, to myself, but he heard me, and had probably assumed the worst.

The Doctor jumped up and gripped my arms tightly.

"Who are you? How do you know about all of them?"

He was mad and confused. Not a good combination. I'd always watched from his side on TV, and being the one he's mad at was not a very pleasant feeling. Nothing good had come from being his enemy. I wondered, worried, if I'd said too much. Had he met them yet? Well, obviously. Had something happened to one of them? Wasn't Rose in another dimension or something, I'd missed those episodes. But that was unimportant now. The Doctor was mad, at me, I had to think quickly. He wasn't really a violent person. Would he hurt me?

He was staring at me and I stared back, fear etched on my face. His eyes widened and he let me go. Then he touched my now red arm.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" he asked, concerned.

"No, I'm good, just caught by surprise," I shrugged nonchalantly to reassure him, "I sort of understand your reaction. Well, really sort of; I'm not sure what's gone on, so I can't really understand, but, generally speaking I can sort of figure out what and…yeah," I stopped babbling as he raised an eyebrow again. Inside I was squealing as I thought; he was looking at me, not mad, making this so much better and way more fun.

"You want to further explain that?" he asked, partly amused, "you looked really happy when you saw me. I guess people who know me are happy to see me but I've never seen you before. Care to explain _that_? Do I know you?"

"No, but I kind of know you," I admitted and he looked confused, but waited for me to continue, "Like I said, you aren't real. You're imaginary or, I used to think so. I guess you're not, well, obviously you're not, but you were. But you're standing in front of me, so not anymore." I tried to get back on track and sum it up simply, "You're a character on TV."

His eyes got huge. "I'm television character? But that's not possible, then everyone knows me, but they don't, because I'm not. But then how much do you know, and how, and why?"

I tried to think of an answer, like the Doctor Who fan I was, so I guessed, "Um, maybe it's sort of like another dimension or something? Maybe—"

I couldn't continue because he suddenly hugged me. Then he sat back like nothing had happened.

"Of course! You're a genius! I would've never thought of that! In this dimension I'm real, but a made up character. And in my dimension I'm, well, me." He grinned and looked around, "oh I _love_ this Tardis. I learn so many new things and meet so many interesting people!"

I was ecstatic that I'd taught the Doctor something, but then a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, didn't you end up in another dimension once? But the Tardis almost died or something?"

He stopped grinning and glanced around again.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that part," he said in his wonderful accent and I giggled like a fangirl, which I was. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing, I just like your accent."

"What accent?" he cocked his head to one side.

"That one," I laughed.

He laughed with me for a minute before stopping and looking at me curiously.

"So how well do you know me, from television?"

"I have a lot of lines memorized, if that's what you mean." I admitted.

"Really?" he grinned a teasing smile, "Prove it."

"Well…," I tried to pick an episode, "In 'The Christmas Invasion', after you regenerated into yourself, and you woke up from that coma-thing. The Tardis, Rose, and all them were in the alien spaceship. You realized you were 'rude and not ginger'. What's-his-face the alien guy demanded to know who you were. You said "I don't know!" in the same tone as him. Then you said "See there's the thing, I'm the Doctor, but beyond that I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. So I'm testing. Am I funny? Am I Sarcastic? Sexy?" " The Doctor grinned and I blushed, but continued. " "Am I all misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck?" you went on about that for a bit. And then you saw the "great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstances." You tasted the blood that was feeding it: A-positive with a dash of iron. And, being the man you are, you pressed the button. 'Course, you did save all the A-positives by doing so. Is that enough proof? Or another episode perhaps? There was that one episode, but," I faltered, "Wait that hasn't happened yet. Or has it?"

The Doctor was smiling. "I do remember that day. But I didn't commit it to memory. Why did you?"

"I _really_ like the show." I mumbled and blushed. "In my opinion, you're the best regeneration yet, though I haven't really seen much of the early you. The ninth wasn't too bad. Most of the early yous weren't all that interesting. And the eleventh was a pretty funny guy, but hold it, never mind. Hasn't happened yet. Forget that."

His mouth was open to talk, but nothing came out for a moment.

"So, you've seen the, the next me?" he asked, clearly unbelieving.

"Yup, you are funny, not as funny as now, but that's just me. And by the way," I paused before answering a question bound to arise, "Sorry, you're not ginger then, either."

"Man, I wanted to be ginger, never been _ginger_ before," he pouted, quite adorably for a grown man.

I shrugged, "Sorry, maybe the Twelfth you."

"I have a question," he said suddenly.

"When do you not," I responded, partly to myself, then out loud, "And what might it be?"

He pulled me over to sit in one of the chairs and sat beside me. Then he looked me in the eyes, completely serious again.

"How'd you like to come with me? Join me on my many adventures, see new things, new places? I mean, you know about me, and appear to be very happy in knowing me. What do you say?"

I thought I'd burst in excitement.

"OMD, yes!" I barely managed not to squeal and scream. He might take back what he'd said, and I didn't want that.

"Omd?" he muttered, "I'm not sure about how you all talk in your time and area, but isn't the expression 'omg', as in oh my gosh? What is omd?"

I blushed and didn't answer.

"Ah, well, time enough later. So, how old are you? Young, yes, but, sixteen, seventeen? And what's your name?" he looked me over.

"Holly, and younger than that, actually,fifteen," I mumbled and his eyebrows shot up, so I got defensive, "I'm tall for my age. But please let me come anyway. I'm not that bad, really! Please please please please please please please? I'm great company, please?"

"I guess so," he chuckled, "You are really energetic; like a little me. I've always wanted to see a little me."

I was happy he compared me to him, but tried to calm down a bit. What he said next really wasn't overly helpful in me staying calm-ish.

"Right then. Where'd you like to go first?"

**Just so you all know, OMD was a little joke my friends and I have. I always say 'oh my Doctor' instead of 'oh my gosh' and figured the Doctor would get a kick out of it when he found out.**

**And the '**_**Well'**_** part was from the end of **_**Blink- "Got things to do. Well, four things. Well, four things, and a lizard."**_

**Now, explaination done, Please review!**


	2. Timetraveling in a corset

**Ah, the next part. Enjoy!**

"Um…" I thought it over, "I've always wanted to see the future."

"Right. But you can't." the Doctor shook his head, "Too many spoilers."

"Well, in that case," I paused, "How about the thirteen colonies? Like around or before the Revolutionary War?"

The Doctor looked thoughtful, "I suppose someone of your age should brush up on that history. Why not, Allonsy!"

He was about to start pushing buttons when he stopped and looked at me.

"Would you mind pulling that green lever there?" he asked, motioning to the other side of the console.

I nodded and ran over to it and pulled it down.

"Brilliant. Now, let's see. American Colonies," he started talking to himself and the Tardis, "Approximately 1776 just for the fun of it, and around," he looked up, "Does Boston sound good? Wonderful, I'll aim for Boston."

"Wait," I stopped him, "Can we stop by my house for a minute?"

"Why?" the Doctor looked up, fingers lingering over the last buttons.

"Internet," I explained in one word, "You should see something."

"That would mean I might see something from my future, which wouldn't be all that brilliant. What is it?" he asked.

"A clip with the actor that played you in the show," I explained. "It isn't your future I promise. But it's kind of funny. You might get a kick out of it."

"Well," he thought it over, "I don't see why not. We've got time. Of course, we've always got time. We'll stop by your place."

He reset the time and destination and soon we made it to my house. As not to disturb the neighbors, he parked in the front hall. I snatched up the laptop from my room and turned it on as I ran back to the Tardis. Once it was on, and with the Doctor looking over my shoulder, I went to YouTube and typed _Comic Relief Catherine Tate and David Tennant._

"But who are they?" he asked in my ear.

"The actors that played you and Donna," I explained, "its a little joke video you two are in."

I found the clip and turned it on. I sat down with the laptop in my lap and the Doctor sat beside me. Soon David Tennant was making his way into the clip.

"There I am! And I'm _Scottish_ of all things!" he exclaimed, "And there's Donna!"

The video continued and the Doctor and I were soon laughing.

"Those actors are funny," he laughed.

Then "Lauren Cooper" asked the Doctor Who question.

"Are you the Doctor?" Lauren/Donna asked in the video.

"Doctor Who?" the English teacher/Doctor said in a confused Scottish accent.

The Doctor laughed as Lauren continued questioning, but then had a wounded expression.

"I think she's actually making fun of me," he said in a hurt tone, "and who's Billie Piper? Why is the crowd laughing at that?"

"Billie Piper is the actor that played Rose," I whispered.

That shut him up. He looked really sad, and I felt bad. After Lauren said the sonnet and the English teacher pulled out the sonic screwdriver, I saw a ghost of a smile on the Doctor's lips. Then I closed the laptop and slipped out the door to put it back.

When I came back he was smiling again.

"Well, I could use a nice trip after that. So, still Boston?" he confirmed and I nodded, "Then let's go." And he hit a button and the Tardis began to shift again.

When it stopped, he was about to open the door, when he stopped. Then he turned around and looked me over.

"You can't go like that," he pointed out.

Minutes later I no longer wore jeans and a t-shirt. I was wearing a long dress, complete with a tight corset, for good measure. Thankfully, he let me keep my shoes. Though, when he assisted me with the corset, he made it really, _really_ tight.

"Oi, how can woman breathe in these bloody things," I complained.

The Doctor turned his head back to me. "You sounded British just now."

"Sorry, habit," I realized I'd been talking like that because of Doctor Who.

"No, its fine," he assured, "It might make you blend in a bit more, actually, maybe. Possible, well—"

"Ah, forget it," I said, as my all-American self as I began to twist my hair and pin it up.

"First things first," the Doctor said at the door, "How do we know each other here? And how old do I look as a human?"

"You look about…28 or so. How about brother and sister or father and daughter? Or a couple, that'd be weird, though," I suggested offhand.

"A couple, that'll work, pretend to be my fiancée. You look old enough. Maybe that'll be enough to keep those boys away from you," he waggled his eyebrows as my face reddened. "Oh, and let me do all the talking," he clapped his hands together and flung the door open.

I looked around in amaze, but the Doctor was frowning. He held up a hand when I went to ask. Then he took a deep breath, inhaling the time, it seemed to me.

"I was a tad off," he admitted, "We're more west, in a town whose name I don't know. Time was a bit off too. I think a few decades after the Revolutionary War. My bad."

I waved it off, "Ah, fine by me. Though…do I still have to wear this?"

To my disappointment, he nodded.

We were on the outskirts of the town. It was just like an old movie. It was all rocky and dusty and the wooden buildings were set along the sides of a street. There were cowboys riding around on horses and women dressed like me walking along some wooden sidewalks. I think I even saw a saloon because there was screaming and some guy flew out the doors and landed in the mud.

The Doctor looped his arm through mine and pulled me along the sidewalk. All the women we passed looked curiously at him. A few men were staring at me, but would then look at the Doctor and walk away. I glanced at the buildings we walked by and saw an assortment of shops. Most of them were empty, but the saloon was full up to the brim. The Doctor looked in the swinging doors at the drunks staggering around.

He looked undecided and I elbowed him. He turned his head back to me.

"You can't be considering going in there can you?" I questioned.

"I need to ask where we are," he replied.

"Then ask someone out here!" I exclaimed and he clamped his hand over my mouth.

"Shh," his hand dropped, "Although that is a good idea."

He pulled me to the corner of the sidewalk. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a group of men.

"I'll go ask them, so stay right here." He pointed to the ground at my feet, "Don't move. Don't talk to anyone."

I nodded. He grinned, spun on his heel, and headed towards the group. I wanted to lean up against the building, but that would be 'unladylike' so I stood and looked at my nails. I looked up under my eyelashes and saw the Doctor laughing and standing with the young men.

Then I heard someone whistle. I jerked back when I realized a young man stood beside me. He had unruly brown hair and was dressed in the western getup like all the others. He was smiling and had his head leaning to one side like he was curious.

"Why, hello there," he said in a southern, or rather western, accent. "What's a darlin' like you doin' lone out here?" He took a step closer to me.

I took another step back. "No, I'm not alone. My friend—fiancée is over there. He asked me to wait for him."

The boy didn't even glance at where the Doctor stood. He stepped closer and my back bumped into a wall. He put his hands against the wall on either side of me.

"My name's James. What's yours," he asked, leaning in.

I turned away, not answering. "Please, leave. My fiancée—"

James interrupted me by leaning in further and pressing his lips to mine. Backed up against the wall, I couldn't move away. I pushed my hands against his chest, trying to move him away. He grabbed my wrists and pulled them to my sides. I squirmed away, trying to move, but he wouldn't let me. I got one wrist free. Then I did what any decent girl would do when forcefully kissed in 2010.

I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.

James stumbled backwards and fell into the mud, or what appeared to be mud. He clambered back to his feet and walked towards me, looking quite furious. I back away from James and the wall. Keeping my eyes on the angry man, I took another half step back.

I wasn't quick enough. James stormed at me and grabbed my arms.

"You need to learn some manners, little lady," he growled, "That wasn't very polite."

"Neither was kissing me against my will," I retorted, trying to keep a manner appropriate to the century as I ripped my arms away.

James was obviously very surprised, and very mad. He raised a hand to slap me when another hand gripped his wrist. It was the Doctor, and he was too happy either.

"And what is it you are doing to my fiancée?" he snarled.

However old James may have been he was about an inch shorter than the Doctor. He stumbled back a step as the Doctor released his arm. The Doctor loomed over him as James cowered; my hand was a red shape on his face.

"Explain to me what you were just about to do to her," he said with bared teeth.

"Nothin', sir, n-nothin'," he stuttered.

"It had better be nothing, or else, so help me I will destroy you," the Doctor threatened and his British accent disappeared.

With that last word, James ran away and the Doctor spun to face me.

"Are you all right, Holly? What did he do to you?" he demanded.

"He kissed me and I slapped him," I answered quietly, still stunned.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell him you had a fiancée?"

"I did," I insisted, "I guess he didn't care whether or not I was engaged."

"That's it, we are leaving," he threw up his hands in defeat.

Then he took my hand and pulled me back towards the Tardis. When we got there, a bunch of cowboys were around it.

"Oi, don't touch that!" the Doctor let go of my hand and started shooing the men away, "No, no, no touchy! That's mine!"

"Not anymore, it ain't," one of the men, a guy probably around the age of 35, said, "Now it's property of the sheriff. It's on his land."

"No, no, no. It's mine," the Doctor repeated, "I'll move it if it's on his property, then. Holly, come along, we are leaving."

"She can't leave, Mister," the same man spoke as he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Why not?" the Doctor exclaimed.

"She injured the sheriff's son. She's stayin' with us for a trial."

And with that, James sauntered up with his hands in his pockets and I smile on his face. He then grabbed my arm and kissed my cheek.

"See, sweetie, crime never pays," he smirked, "'specially not when it's against the sheriff's own son."

The Doctor looked downright furious, and I was downright scared. I hadn't expected this to happen. I pulled away from him.

"I didn't injure him; I was defending myself against him!" I explained.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," James interrupted, "Tell that to my dad." Then he whispered in my ear, "He'll be thinking you assaulted and attacked me. Try to get out of this, you'll get hung."

**Explanation for this includes the following.**

**The part about youtube- I know it wasn't necessary, but it was a really funny video. And I just had to let the Doctor see it.  
the video is /watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A**

**As for the 'you'll be hung', IDK if that is a real punishment in those days, but it sounded appropriate.**

**Review!**


	3. Hasn't this happened before?

**I'm ba-ack! Have no fear:) Thank you thank you *bows to audience* enjoy!**

James smirked as I gasped.

"You sick monster! Why the hell would he believe that?" I shouted, "I'll tell him otherwise. I have witnesses; he'll believe me!"

"I don't know," he smiled knowingly.

The Doctor stormed over.

"You know fully well she did nothing! She is innocent, and we are leaving," the British accent leaking into his voice. James heard the accent.

"Where are you from, stranger?" he asked, "Europe somewhere? We don't like them 'round here."

"As a matter of fact, no," I answered, thinking quickly of an excuse, "His family just immigrated. We decided to travel around before we are wed. We wanted to know the land before we settled down."

"Oh," James said, contemplating this new information, "So you wasn't lyin' 'bout that."

"Of course I wasn't. Why would I lie about eternal commitment?" I made my voice sound like I was about to cry, "But now it's for nothing! Being arrested for something I didn't do! What will his family think of me?"

I let a tear slip down my cheek. I noticed the Doctor slowly unlocking the Tardis. The other men had backed away and James was looking pretty guilty now.

The Tardis door flung open and I ran towards it. James moved to stop me, but I'd already shut the door in his face. I locked the door and turned to the Doctor. He was slowly clapping.

"Brilliant, Holly," he said, "You should definitely pick a career in acting. And that was a very heartfelt speech. I almost believed it myself."

I smiled and wiped the tear from my face. Then I left him fiddling with the controls as I changed back into my normal clothes.

"So where to, Doctor?" I asked as I looked over his shoulder at the coordinates.

"Not sure, where do you think? Earth? Not Earth? We could let the Tardis decide, maybe." He pressed a green button and the Tardis began to quake.

When it stopped, the Doctor opened the door to check where we were.

"Hmmm, the moon. But why?" he muttered to the Tardis. He stuck his head out and looked around, "Oooooh…that's why."

"What is it?" I ran over to look outside.

We were on the moon, right next to a hospital.

"Didn't this happen before," I wondered aloud, "You met Martha and a plasmavore when the Jadoon or something put a hospital on the moon."

The Doctor looked back at me.

""You _really_ like my show, don't you?"

"Yep," I said, more open to admitting this now that I knew him better, "So I'm right?"

"Exactly, actually. But why is it here again?"

"Maybe another criminal is here," I offered.

"I guess it's possible," the Doctor glanced outside again, "You want to go check it out?"

"You bet I do," I grinned.

My smile proved contagious and immediately the Doctor was his cheery self again. He led the way to the front door and we entered the hospital. It looked like the hospital from the episode.

"So someone took the exact same hospital to the moon? Wow they are not the luckiest bunch of patients," I commented.

I looked around the lobby. There were a few people walking around, but no panic for air. Yet.

"They can't have been here long, or the oxygen would have been running low. No one's panicking yet, so we have a little while." I concluded. The Doctor nodded in agreement, so I continued, "And I didn't see ships, so whoever did this, isn't here yet."

"But they could've already gone," the Doctor pointed out.

"Do any of these people look like they just saw aliens?" I asked and he shook his head, "Then I assume they aren't here yet."

"You make a good point. And—" he stopped and tilted his head, "They're here."

I dashed to a window. Sure enough, ships were landing a few hundred yards from the Tardis. It opened and the rhino guys started marching out.

"It's the Jadoon, Doctor," I commented, "Maybe the plasmavore had criminal family."

"Right," he frowned, "And we need to find him or her before they—"

"—find you," I finished, "because they're looking for aliens and you are exactly that."

The Doctor pouted childishly, "could've let me say that," he mumbled.

Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall. We ran up the stairs while he explained, "Maybe this alien wants to do the same as the last one."

"Use the MRI to escape, and in turn destroy half the Earth's population," my voice cracked at the last word.

"Maybe you knowing all this is a good thing. Less for me to explain," the Doctor stated as he pulled me through a door to another hallway.

We reached a crossroad as the panic began. The Jadoon were in the building. I found a sign for MRI and dragged the Doctor in the right direction. We made it to the door, and found it guarded by the leather minion from this _Doctor Who_ episode. I jolted to a stop before it saw us.

"Now what?" I whispered to the Doctor."

He was about to answer when a few Jadoon soldiers started stalking down the far hallway towards us.

"Right," the Doctor sighed, "guess I'll do what I did last time, then."

"No!" I exclaimed, but the Jadoon were within earshot and I shut up.

"I was fine last time," he reminded, "and sorry, they need distracted for a moment."

I was about to ask what he meant, when he kissed me quickly on the lips. Then he darted around the minion dude into the MRI room. I heard him faking a freaked-out human, yelling about space-rhinos. Then he asked why someone in the room had a straw. It was another plasmavore. I'd been right.

It was going to kill him, but I forced myself to stay focused and walk towards the Jadoon in the lead. I figured the best distraction was acting panicked to buy time, and then they would scan me for alien DNA.

It worked as I'd hoped. I started to 'panic' and the space rhinos paused. Then one stuck a blue light in my face. He started asking me questions like "What are you?". Then he wrote an "X" on my hand.

"You are clear," he said in his strange voice.

He was about to barge passed me when I blocked the hall.

"Wait, the plasmavore is in there," I said, hoping I had given the Doctor enough time.

"In here, in here," I motioned for the door before also going in the room.

Inside was the same as the _Doctor Who_ episode. One leather-minion-thing stood by the wall and the Doctor lay on the floor. I wanted to scream and drop down beside him, but held that in for a later time.

I looked for the other alien and saw an old woman behind the glass near the MRI controls. She/it looked like the one from TV, but wasn't the same, probably a sister or something.

"Her!" I called, pointing and waving my hand like a maniac, "She's the alien!"

"Of course, I'm not, dear," she/it chuckled and pointed to the Doctor, "That poor man was. I'm human; I've been scanned already."

"I snatched the scanner-thing from one of the Jadoon and pointed it at the woman/alien. It made a different sound than with me. All the Jadoon pulled out their guns.

"How is that possible?" she/it exclaimed.

"Because he's the Doctor," I whispered.

I dropped down beside his body as the woman/alien was shot by multiple beams. He wasn't moving. I set my head against his chest and heard the faintest of faint heartbeats starting up. I sighed loudly as the Jadoon marched out. The Doctor would be okay.

Then I took a breath and realized I hardly could. Oxygen had depleted in my time here, and I was running out. I took another labored breath as I tried to stand back up. I was shakily on my feet. Then I fell to my knees again. I leaned down to him.

"Come on, Doctor," I whispered, "Wake up. We need you. Please wake up. Help me."

I was getting a little dizzy sitting there and I lay down on the tile. It was getting a bit harder to breathe. Those stupid rhinos had left us on the moon.

My sight was now going fuzzy, but I saw the Doctor shift. And it didn't matter anymore, he could fix this, he always fixed the problem; he was the Doctor. The Doctor sat up a bit and looked around. He saw me and tried to get up. I could tell he was weak too.

He summed up strength and lifted me into his arms. Carrying me, he managed to get to the lobby again. There was almost no air left. Somehow we got to the Tardis, but I was hardly conscious.

Then, probably in the Tardis, I started getting the right amount of air again. I gasped, sucking it in. I tried to get up from the ground where I ended up at some point, but couldn't. I heard a slight chuckling, and a whooshing noise, then everything when even darker into oblivion.

***continues bowing* In return for my masterpiece. I will need reviews! please**


	4. Reading the universe

**Ah-ha, next chapter! Enjoy**

I woke up with blurry vision and the biggest headache I'd ever had.

"Oi," I mumbled to myself as I tried to sit up, "Whoa, head rush."

I lay back down on the ground and looked around. I was beside the Tardis console and stairs. The Doctor wasn't in my sight, and I started to wonder what happened while I was passed out.

"This must be how drunks feel," I muttered to myself as I tried, and failed, to stand up again.

I gave up and chose to stay on the ground for a bit. I tried to bring back to mind what had happened. It was pretty much like the episode: avoid Jadoon, genetic transfer, Doctor 'dies' and saves Earth, pass out from no oxygen, and Doctor saves the day again.

I giggled. The Doctor had kissed me to save the Earth. If only my friends knew, and why couldn't they know? I frowned in thought; we had time to stop by a friend's house, like Brina, my best friend. I would have to finish the school day probably, but I could tell Brina what happened. She would flip out.

Brina was the one to show me Doctor Who anyway. She deserved to know he was real. But it probably wasn't the best idea, I decided against it.

I heard a thud and spun around, not well for my head. I clasped my head, waiting for the dizzy spell to pass and I groaned.

The Doctor had just pulled a lever, but I was sound sensitive at the moment.

"Sorry," he apologized when he heard me, "A little tipsy now, are we?"

I glared at him and he ignored it.

"Yes, but why," I asked from the floor.

"Just disoriented is all," he explained, "Need some help?"

"No, I think I'll sit here for a bit. My head hurts." I said.

"You should move. Get your blood flowing," he said, grinning childishly.

He helped me struggling to stand. Eventually he gave up on me doing it on my own, so he put my arm around his shoulder. I leaned against him as he poked a screen, looking at something timey-wimey that I didn't care to find out. I laid my head on his shoulder while he clicked more buttons.

"You're taking this well," he said out of the blue.

"Pardon?"

"Some of my companions have dealt differently, to the aftermath of these situations."

"You mean someone like Martha and the genetic transfer?" I asked.

He paused and I thought I saw his face go a bit red, but everything was a bit red through my eyes at the moment.

"At least you know what it was." He said after a minute.

"That's because I watched that episode. She was convinced it was a kiss, and that would just make this really awkward. I know it wasn't because you've only really ever meant to kiss Rose, Madame de Pompadour, and those you _like_ like that." I said, knowing that bringing that up would probably make this a really awkward moment.

It didn't, thankfully. He went red first, but relaxed a bit once I admitted that and touched the screen again.

"Whatcha doing?" I questioned.

"Just checking readings all over the universe," he answered and I had a feeling he was showing off.

"Why couldn't you do it in an Earth language?" I motioned with my free arm to the squiggles on screen and he paused, clearly deflated.

"It wouldn't be as fun," he picked as his response.

"Because everything is more fun when it isn't human," I retorted.

"No offense to your species or anything," he quickly added.

I just raised an eyebrow and he went silent, slowly moving a hand to change the language into what appeared to be French. He smiled slyly and I smiled back, pretending to knew enough French to read it. The Doctor pouted and clicked it into Spanish. My grin didn't leave. He changed it to German: I still didn't react. I knew he would give up if he thought I could read the languages, which I could not.

He paused in thought and sighed, "I suppose it would only anger you if I were to make it a dead language?"

"Probably, just change it to English, it'll be easier for you," I shrugged and he rolled his eyes before reading the readings again, in English.

I read for a bit, but then I got bored with all the big words I couldn't understand and walked away feeling a bit more stable now.

"Do not change that to an inhuman language, Doctor," I threatened as I saw him move in my peripheral vision. His shoulders slumped in defeat.

"You're worse than Donna," he complained.

"Eh, she probably understood more than I do," I admitted, "I haven't lived much life to understand most of it yet."

"Then I should take you back; let you finish school," he decided.

"You'll get sidetracked and forget me," I stopped smiling, a little bit sad. I understood that he was still right.

"Even if I did, I could just come back to the same time, you won't know the difference," the Doctor said.

"I guess you're probably right," I sighed.

"Of course I am. I'm the Doctor," he bragged.

"So, December. The 13th," he said as he fiddled with switches, "The time, what do you say we just skip the rest of the school day?"

I smiled again, "That'd be nice. But they would mark my record. I guess I have to finish the school day."

"Nonsense. I'll go in when we left and tell them you felt sick and I, being your 'Dad', took you home," the Doctor concluded. "Now push that big red button over there."

I pushed the button and the Tardis shook a little bit. I looked out the door and saw that we were behind my school. The Doctor fixed his tie and strutted towards the front door like he owned the place. He was taking out his psychic paper before he got in the door. I sat inside the Tardis to wait. It was too bloody cold out there.

He came in five minutes later with a know-it-all look on his face and his hands full of my textbooks.

"You just think you're so great, don't you," I said as I looked through the homework and he turned a knob.

"That is true," he said.

This time the Tardis didn't shudder as bad when he placed us by my house. I texted my mom that a friend had dropped me off because I'd felt sick. She and my dad were working, so they couldn't've done so.

I gave the Doctor a hug before he got back in the Tardis.

"Hopefully I see you in a few years," I said before he shut the door.

"Right you are," he smiled, "Have a good life till then. By the way. You mind telling me about "OMD" now?"

"It means 'oh my Doctor'," I smiled.

He chuckled, "Of _course _it does."

And I heard the sounds of the universe as the Tardis faded out of view. I smiled and went to my room to go write this down. Who knows, I would probably see him in the future. What would happen then?

**Review.  
****I'm thinking of ending it here, but who knows?**


	5. Author's Note

**Author's Note, Don't kill me!**

**I decided that, since none of you ever look at my profile, I should _tell _you something.**

**There is a poll on my page about the story, so if you want to know, look at my page! You can't expect me to do this without a _little _help.**

**Okay I'm done, continue on with your lives.**


	6. 8 Years Later

**I've decided to try to continue this story, since a few people voted for me to, so here we go. :)**

_**Recap**  
__And I heard the sounds of the universe as the Tardis faded out of view. I smiled and went to my room to go write this down. Who knows, I would probably see him in the future. What would happen then?_

_****__***8 years later***_

"Holly! Wake up! I'm going to work in thirty minutes and I expected a nice breakfast when I woke up! Get in the kitchen now!" the fierce male voice ricocheted off the walls until it found me.

Eight years had passed since I said fare well to the Doctor. Eight long years. A lot had happened in that time. I had finished school like the Doctor wanted. I fell in love, or so I thought. Mark Greene was my husband**. (Made up name! If there is a dude named Mark Greene out there, please don't sue me or become offended!) **We got married months ago, a week after I turned 23. He'd abused me ever since. I couldn't leave him because our family's believed he was a wonderful man and what would they think of me? And Mark could make anyone and everyone believe him if I reported it.

I had long ago given up on the Doctor returning. He probably had a brand-new companion and a wonderful adventure filled life that I wasn't a part of. He wouldn't take me as a companion. I still loved the show, though, and had the journal of our short adventure hidden behind my bedside desk.

"Holly! Get your lazy butt down here now!" Mark yelled up at me again.

I rolled off the bed and dashed to my small dresser. I changed into worn out jeans and a blue button down shirt. While getting ready, I put foundation on to cover up the bruises forming on my cheek and around my eye. Then I bounced down the stairs with the little enthusiasm he hadn't crushed yet and into the kitchen. Mark tapped his shoe impatiently.

Mark was a handsome man with light brown hair and nearly black-brown eyes and somewhat tan skin. He was tall and strong and a businessman of sorts. He now wore a dark blue suit, just shades away from the Doctor's suit I might add, and held a heavy briefcase.

I made breakfast quickly, though apparently too slow for Mark, earning a slap across the face. He ate it, complaining and slapping me again, before grabbing his briefcase and standing.

"I will be back at six o'clock tonight and expect dinner to be ready and warm," he spoke loud and demanding, "If I'm not home, I'm out at the bar getting better service than _you_ deliver."

He barged passed me, slamming me into the edge of the counter, as he stormed out the door. I whimpered to myself as I felt my hip and shuddered when he slammed the door. I wished I could run away, but I was too afraid. Cleaning quickly, I then went up to my room, to better conceal my visible bruises. I carefully brushed the make-up brush across my check, wincing slightly as the brush scraped a jagged cut. I powdered it across my neck and lower arms too where angry purple blotches marked the skin. I finished my make-up and, pulling my hair back in a bun, shuffled out of the room to clean.

I finished the chores set for me by Mark a few hours later. Then I set myself on the couch in the living room of our small two-story house. I sighed as tears started to run down my face. They dripped onto the armrest as I leaned against the side of the couch. The doorbell rang twice and I stood up to answer it. The woman on the porch was a neighbor. She was the only one who knew what a monster Mark really was. She handed me my mail and her hand gently brushed my jaw.

"Last night again?" the elderly woman said; it wasn't a question.

I nodded slowly as she stepped forward to embrace me. After a second she patted my check, that wasn't bruised, and slowly walked back down to her own house. I shut the door again and flipped through the mail. It was all for Mark, obviously. Except the last letter wasn't a letter at all. It was just a thick slip of paper with a few words on it. It was the address of the park a mile away from my house, in cleanly written letters. I stared at it for a moment before dropping the rest of the mail on the table. There was nothing else on the paper, just the address. There wasn't even a time. When was I supposed to go and who was I to apparently meet? I redid my makeup again, because the tears smeared it off. The I put the powder in my bag to take just in case.

Pulling on my shoes and slipping on a light jacket, I crept out the front door as if Mark was there nearby. What if this was a test from him? Was it to see if I would listen to the paper and his instruction to stay in the house while he was gone? I got to the park and sat down on a bench to wait. I didn't have a watch; Mark said I didn't need one if I stayed home like a good wife, so I didn't know how long a waited. It felt like about fifteen minutes when I saw someone walk onto the park property. Their face was undistinguishable from the distance, and Mark had probably damaged my sight at one point. However I did notice when they started walking over to me.

The man wore a brown suit and walked forward with his hands in his pockets. It couldn't have been him, could it? I pretended to be studying my nails as he sat down on the other side of the bench.

"'Ello ma'am," greeted a wonderfully familiar British accent, "Have you seen a girl named Holly round here?"

I decided to play dumb. "Sorry sir, who is that? Could you describe her?"

"She should be in her early twenties, I think. She had long hair, pale skin. Ring any bells?" I thought over his description. I'd kept my hair shorter nowadays, but was still pretty pale. I lifted my head to look at him and almost smiled.

The Doctor hadn't changed a bit, though I hadn't expected him to. But, there was an almost imperceptible change that I couldn't name. He was sitting three or four feet from me with his legs crossed and facing me, so he saw me look up. His grin widened a bit.

"Sorry, I don't know any like that," I kept composure, "Can I take a message?"

"Of course," he said, playing along, "Tell her the Doctor is back and wishes she can come to his office soon. He has some questions."

"I'll be sure to tell her if I see her." I spoke before a smile finally broke through onto my face.

We stood up at the same time and he leaned forward to hug me. It hurt a few of my bruises, but I didn't let him know that.

"Holly, it's good to see you again," he mumbled into my hair, "You've grown up."

"So you've noticed," I chuckled.

"Course I have, you were a good two inches shorter back then…how long ago was it?"

"Eight years," I answered automatically.

"Hmm," he frowned, "I was aiming for five."

_You would've stopped my marriage if you were on time_, I thought, but didn't say it out loud.

"I assume you got the note? Or a family member?" he asked and I shuddered at the image of Mark finding it.

"You say that like you aren't sure it did." I raised an eyebrow to wait for an explanation.

"Remember the TV show I was on?" he asked and I nodded, "The woman River told me she left it for you, so I wasn't sure."

"Ah, River, wonderfully confusing woman." I said to no one in particular.

"I think she strives to be just that." The Doctor agreed, "So, do you have a family now? Any little ones?"

"No," I sighed, wishing I did, but fearing for their nonexistent lives, "I got married though, he's at work now."

"Can I meet him?" the Doctor asked.

"No," I said too quickly and looked away, but he didn't question my reaction.

"Very well then, what would you like to do?" he switched topics.

I shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"Are you tired of my presence already?" he teased.

"Course not," I mumbled, "I waited eight years, it may take a while for you to bore me."

"You aren't as perky as you were," he noticed.

"I grew up," I explained softly, not mentioning the permanent cloud in my life.

"Are you tired? You have bags under your eyes," he brushed a finger under one of my eyes on what he thought was a "bag" and I winced. He froze. "Holly," he whispered.

I shook his hand off, but other than drop his arm, he didn't move. I didn't know what he looked like, sad or whatever, because I wouldn't meet his eyes. He put a hand under my chin and pulled my head up so I had to look at him. He brushed away the makeup on my cheek so carefully it almost didn't hurt. His light touch was even soothing. But it hurt him; I saw the pain in his deep, brown eyes as he saw the bruises showing themselves.

"Who did this to you?" he whispered in something similar to agony.

"No one," I pushed his hand away as I lied with a joking smile, "I ran into something is all. I'm a klutz like that, you know. Now about traveling? We'd have to be back by six, Doctor. In _this_ year, _today_."

"Are you implying something about my driving skills?" he pouted, my lie completely fooling him.

"What, _no_, I would never," I gasped in a sophisticated tone. "But let's go now, lead the way."

I followed him as we walked so he wouldn't see my frown. I wanted so bad to tell him about Mark, but was afraid of the consequences. We walked a bit before I saw the familiar blue box. He had parked behind a big tree. It wasn't exactly inconspicious.

"You should fix the chameleon circuit on her, Doctor," I patted the police box wood and he opened the door.

"I think she looks rather nice," he mumbled, "I like blue. There's nothing wrong with blue."

"I know, I know." I agreed.

I stepped inside and took in a deep breath. Though I'd only been in here a few times, it smelled like home. The Doctor motioned to a chair, which I gratefully sat in, as he began pressing buttons. He was watching one screen in particular as he chose our destination. I quickly reapplied foundation while his back was turned.

"So, what do you think, Holly? How about a beach? I know a great big beach other side of the universe. How about it?" he questioned me excitedly. I was worried my bruises would show, but he was really happy and if I just didn't have to get wet I was fine.

"It sounds lovely," I smiled, "But I don't have any—,"

"—oh, there's probably a suit somewhere in the Tardis." The Doctor interrupted.

"Okay then, I'll go look." I got up and started searching another area.

I found a blue bikini that fit and changed in another room while he landed. He had towels and really powerful sunscreen in a bag, because apparently the sun was a few hundred miles closer to this planet than Earth. He had changed into a t-shirt and trunks, not something I'd ever seen him in before.

"Let's go then," he grinned adorably as I walked out with a shirt and shorts covering my suit.

"Lead the way, good sir," I teased.

I followed him out of the Tardis and onto a beautiful sandy beach. There were huge waves being surfed in the ocean beside the golden sands, shimmering with light from the light pink sky. It wasn't even that crowded. Those that were here all looked somewhat human thankfully. The Doctor propped up an umbrella as I lay out our towels.

"This is a really, Earthly, place," I commented nonchalantly.

"One of the most alike your planet in the galaxies," the Doctor agreed.

I slipped my extra clothes off so I was in only my swimsuit and covered myself in sunscreen, noticing with relief it still kept my makeup on over the marks on my arms, legs, and everywhere. The Doctor assisted me in applying sunscreen to my back; Mark's marks on that skin were mostly faded anyway. I helped him cover his own back and then he ran off to surf or something.

I lay down in the sun and closed my eyes. And I thought: of Mark, of my other travels with the Doctor, and of the Doctor himself. I still couldn't figure out that, _difference,_ in him since when I was fifteen. He hadn't changed; he was still his amazingly wonderful self. But when he'd helped me with sunscreen, my heart had fluttered embarrassingly.

I opened my eyes and rolled over to my stomach so the sun's rays found my back. I studied the Doctor in the ocean. He was having so much fun out there. Did he ever have normal days, or as normal as days can get being a Time Lord? He was trying to balance on a surf board that I didn't remember him bringing. I'd never seen him in an environment like this. And he without a shirt was a sight for sore eyes.

I jerked up into a sitting position. I was married for crying out loud! I glanced at my left hand and at the gold band on the fourth finger. Whether I hated Mark or not: I was committed.

He saw my movement and waved from the water, successfully unbalancing himself and toppling into the water. I laughed quietly at this before falling silent.

Was I falling for the Doctor?

**How was that? Good? I sure hope so, I wasted my time writing it. **

**Review!**


	7. Mark Gets What He Deserves

**I know I know, it looks to short, well short things can be great! Like people for instance. I'm not short, but I think they are awesome! So...read, and stuff.**

I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up being splattered by water. I opened one eye. The Doctor was drying off and shaking his head like a dog: therefore splattering me with water droplets. I rolled over on my back to even the tan I was hopefully getting and looked up at him.

"Did you have fun surfing?" I asked with a smile.

"It was wonderful! I even stayed on the board for a while too!" he exclaimed happily, like a child who just won a sticker in preschool, "Come try it out. It's fun!"

"Nah, I'm fine," I denied the request, though I really did want to try to surf.

"You're sure?" he asked and I nodded.

The Doctor looked down on me from where he stood. Then he sat beside me.

"You're different now," he said.

"I grew up," I repeated.

"No," he shook his head like a child whose parents didn't believe him, "It isn't that."

"What is it then?" I questioned, hoping he didn't guess right.

"When people grow up, they don't sink into this, sadness, you're in," he explained, reminding me somewhat of Sherlock Holmes, "You may act more mature, but _you_ yourself would still be generally who you were. Holly, did something go on after I left that makes you act this way? A divorce, an accident, a death, anything? Because you should still be your energetic, enthusiastic, self right now."

"I'm still energetic and enthusiastic," I grumbled, "I just grew up and realized it won't get me anywhere in life."

"It will always get you somewhere in life. It gave you a husband and a chance to be my companion," the Doctor lay down next to me on the sand and we looked up at the now golden sky, "And that seems pretty good to me."

A tear slipped down my cheek. The Doctor turned his head and watched me. Then he lifted his hand and wiped the tear away.

"So when will you tell me? What did you "run into"?" he asked and I heard the quotation marks in his voice.

"You don't believe I ran into anything." I didn't ask. It had been too easy to fool him anyway.

"I don't."

"Why not?" I struggled to keep composure.

"Because if you had, you would've laughed at the mistake, I know you, Holly. And I noticed you wince when we hugged; the bruises aren't just on your face, are they? Also, you unconsciously touched your wrists and side as you told me the lie." The Doctor studied my face with serious eyes, "You didn't fool me for a moment, Holly. Now, don't lie, tell me what happened? Kidnapping? Mugging? Who did this to you?"

So my lies hadn't fooled him, but he hadn't figured out who did it. He didn't even list Mark as an assumption, either.

"It was Mark," I whispered finally.

"Who's Mark?" the Doctor growled.

"My…my husband," I said even softer, rolling over on my side to face the Doctor.

Most of his outward appearance didn't change, but his eyes. They filled first with agony and sorrow, then pain, and then fury. Not the "don't touch my planet"-fury, but the "touch _her_ and I will _kill_ you"-fury. I had only seen it when Jenny was shot, and this was different than that. He stood up with jerking movement, like he was holding back something.

"We're leaving now," he whispered and yanked the umbrella from the ground and shut it in one swift motion.

I quickly packed up the rest of our things and ran after him as he stormed to the Tardis. He slammed the door behind us.

"Where else did he hurt you, Holly," the Doctor said through clenched teeth.

I used a towel to clean off the powder I'd hid behind. He was gripping the back of a chair so hard his knuckles turned white.

"And you didn't tell me this, _why_?" he gritted his teeth.

"Because you might do something rash," I explained, draping the towel over my shoulders, "I'm not worth it, and Mark definitely isn't worth it."

"Like hell you aren't! Why haven't you left him?" the Doctor asked in disbelief dripping with anger.

"He can be…persuasive with the police. He'd tell them I did something wrong," I added.

"I need to have a talk with him. I won't be rash," the Doctor scoffed.

"I know, you aren't like that, but cool down for a second." I pleaded.

"It'll take a second to get to your house right before six." The Doctor said as he pulled a lever on the Tardis.

"Fair enough," I found my clothes and changed while he drove.

It actually took a minute to get to my house. The Doctor ended up on the moon once and had to try again.

"See, what did I tell you," I smirked and his eye rolling.

He strolled angrily out of the Tardis and stood in my living room, having parked in the hallway. The Doctor put a protective arm around me that made my heart jump happily. I looked at the wall clock. One minute till Mark barged through the door.

"Go stand where you usually are when he comes home," the Doctor whispered, so I went and stood in the kitchen.

I didn't stand near the door Mark would enter from because I hadn't made dinner. I heard the garage door open, then shut, and I bit my lip nervously. Glancing at the Doctor, who smiled encouragingly, I took a breath. Mark wouldn't see the Doctor when he came in, and that was apparently the Doctor's plan. The clock blipped into six o'clock and the door flew open and banged the wall.

Mark sniffed the air, didn't smell dinner, and his eyes lit with rage.

"Stupid girl! I told you to make dinner!" he hollered and stormed over to me. He grabbed me by the hair and threw me to the ground. He was about to kick me when the Doctor appeared at his shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he snarled quietly.

Mark jumped in surprise and glared at the Doctor. Then he turned to me.

"Are you cheating on me? In my own house?"

"Don't you recognize him?" I asked; Mark obviously didn't like me talking back and I almost grinned, "You used to like Doctor Who as much as me."

"He's not the—," Mark did a double take of the man at his side. "He is!"

The Doctor took this moment and slammed Mark up against the wall and bared his teeth.

"I don't appreciate what you've done to my companion, Mark. I don't like it at all," he said calmly, the scariest calm I'd ever heard.

"You can't hurt me," Mark said with a sudden confidence as he jerked away and yanked me up from the floor by my hair, "You don't hurt anyone, ever."

"I don't have to hurt you," his eyes flashed as a siren blared outside, "If you fight back, the police will. I, from the FBI," he flashed his psychic paper, "arrest you for abusing this young woman."

Then the door flew open again as two police ran in with guns out.

"Hands up!" the first man hollered harshly at Mark. He handcuffed him and pulled him outside as the second man stayed back to talk to us. The Doctor explained, showed his psychic paper, and the second cop left without another word.

"So when did you call the police?" the Doctor asked as he shifted his fingers through my hair to check for injury.

"Me? I thought _you_ called them," I asked in confusion, "You seemed like you had."

"Improvisation, actually," he explained and the door opened, yet again, but slower this time.

My elderly neighbor walked towards us and smiled sweetly, "You have such wonderful friends, Holly. A woman came by and told me to call the cops at exactly six because Mark would show up. And now this man is helping you. Though, they resemble those television characters from a while back."

"I—ah," I tried to improvise, and failed.

"It doesn't matter." She slowly shook her head, "As long as the Doctor is watching out for you. Have a good life now, you both. I hope you come back and visit me."

And with that said she left. I looked back at the Doctor as he finished his examination.

"River," we said in unison.

Then I gave him a flying-tackle-hug, for lack of a better description. We stayed like that for a few minutes. Then I broke up the hug and smiled bigger than I had for months.

"Let's go."

"Go where?" he asked as he opened the Tardis.

"Anywhen, anywhere, I'm free," I followed him into the wonderfully blue box to start a brand new life.

This would be wonderful, great, and bloody _fantastic_.

**Tada! You know what to do! So do it!  
\/\/\/**


	8. Snowy Nights

**I know it's been I teeny while, but I've had stuff to do, sorry! You may know read:)**

"Paris?" I asked curiously as I glanced out of the Tardis and saw the Eiffel Tower.

"In the year 2011," the Doctor nodded, "Back when you were a teen and I'd recently left. I figured France was good around this time."

"It was," I agreed as I walked out of the Tardis and stared up at the large metal tower.

I was about to ask him what today was, but wanted to practice my French and asked a woman walking by.

"Quelle est la date d'aujourd'hui?" I questioned. _What is today's date?_

"Septembre, le quinzième." She responded and smiled, "Et votre français est très bonne." _September the fifteenth. And your French is very good._

"Merci," I thanked and turned to the Doctor. _Thank you_.

"You could've just asked me, you know," he said smiling.

"I needed to test my French," I explained in a somewhat defensive tone and he held up his hands in defeat.

"Fine, what would you like to do then, mademoiselle?"

"I have no idea. You have anything in mind?" I cocked my head to the side.

"A baguette and a walk to the Louvre?" the Doctor suggested.

"Do you have the currency to afford it?" I asked.

"A walk to the Louvre? Then we can go somewhere cheaper?" the Doctor repeated without pause.

"Of course," I smiled.

He waved his arm gentlemanly in one direction and we started to walk down the street. It only took a few minutes to get to the base of a large glass pyramid. I stared up at it.

"It's a lot bigger in person," I commented.

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed.

We stood there for a few minutes, watching other tourists and French people. Then we found our way to a fountain. I sat down on the edge and the Doctor sat beside me. I splashed my fingers in the cool water.

"What time is it here?" I asked, looking at the sun low in the sky.

The Doctor inhaled, "Approximately, 6:15 or so."

"Do you want to watch the sun set, or go somewhere else?" I asked him.

"We could watch the sunset from somewhere else if you'd like," the Doctor offered, watching a car driven by noisily.

"Okay," I said as he held out a hand, which I took.

We walked back to the Tardis. I looked out at Paris one more time before shutting the doors.

"You know we spent ten times longer walking, than actually doing anything." I remarked.

"Walking is good for you," responded the Doctor as he pulled a lever with a clang.

The Tardis shook and I was thrown against the console laughing.

"Why was this thing made for six pilots? It would be better if it were made for one or two." I said between giggles as I was tossed around.

"I agree," the Doctor grinned adorably as he fell back against a chair.

"_Allonsy_!" I laughed.

The Doctor banged a bell-shaped button with his hammer, "_Allonsy_."

The Tardis made another wheezing sound as it landed. The Doctor set his hammer down and pulled one of the Tardis screens around to inspect it. One eyebrow went up as he stared at whatever the screen was showing him.

"Something wrong?" I asked as I tried to make my way over without stumbling.

"It depends on your perspective," the Doctor mumbled.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

He pushed the screen over to me and I looked at it. The view was of right outside of the Tardis. It was a pretty Earthly looking planet: covered in snow, grayish clouds, and almost sunset. I was pretty sure it _was_ Earth. Lying on the ground beside us was an either unconscious or dead figure, now buried in the ice.

I recognized it as Captain Jack Harkness. I dashed away from the controls, toward the door. I slipped outside and stood over Jack's most likely dead body. The Doctor came out the door to stand beside me. I poked Jack in the side with my foot and he groaned. He opened his eyes and squinted up at us.

"Did I finally die and go to heaven? I'm seeing an angel," he asked, looking at me. I blushed. He turned his head to the Doctor and mumbled, "Maybe not."

"Get up, Jack," the Doctor commanded, looking irked.

"Show a man some sympathy, Doc, I just died, _again_," Jack muttered as he climbed to his feet.

I had stepped back to give Jack some room. He looked over at me again and stuck out his hand with his usual charming grin.

"Hello, beautiful, I'm Captain Jack Harkness," he greeted pleasantly.

"I know," I mumbled with a red face as I shook his hand.

"Aw, has Doc mentioned me?" he asked the Doctor.

"No, I haven't," the Doctor said without explanation, though he looked questioningly over at me, "Doctor Who?"

"Yup," I nodded.

"Hey, are you American?" Jack inquired, "That's a new one."

"In case you were wondering, Holly," the Doctor ignored Jack, "This is still Earth. America, to be more precise. I landed a century or two before your time so there weren't any rude interruptions. And there's your sunset." The Doctor motioned to the obviously setting sun. "It's a little chilly, but-"

"Wow. It's so pretty," I whispered at the pink and blue hues in the sky.

"You've gone low as to show companions a _sunset_, Doctor?" Jack smirked, "You've gotten boring."

"Shut up, Jack," I half-growled without turning back to the man. "It's the first peaceful scene I've had in a while."

I saw the Doctor clench his fists out of the corner of my eye. I spun back to put my hand on his arm.

"Calm down, Doctor," I soothed as I saw his expression, "See? I'm fine."

The Doctor's shoulders slumped a half inch as he calmed. He rearranged his features and smiled playfully at me. Then he lifted a hand and ruffled my hair.

"I know. And that man won't ever get to see you ever again. I promise."

I giggled as I pulled my head away and fixed my hair. I leaned against him as I glanced at Jack. Mentioned-Captain watched us with a partly amused, partly confused expression.

"Can I know what's going on?" he asked.

"No," the Doctor and I said simultaneously.

"Alright," Jack sighed, "But I'll have to assume it's bad. Like that the Doctor has taken a married woman with him alone in the universe. Who knows what could happen?"

My face got red at what he was implying, and the Doctor looked just as embarrassed. Then I glanced at my hand and remembered my ring. I pulled back from the Doctor so I could jerk the gold band off my finger. I looked out towards the setting sun and, with all my might, threw the ring as far away as possible. I watched it fall into the snow a little ways away. My lack of strength didn't give it the distance I wanted, but the intent was clear.

"There," I said, brushing my hands on my pants as if ridding myself of dirt or something, "No more memories of that abusive jerk. He never existed."

"Who never existed?" the Doctor played along so well I almost believed he'd forgotten. "Now if you'll kindly excuse me. I'm going to go get some chairs so that you may watch this lovely sunset." He took a breath and looked around. "And a coat, it's going to get really cold soon; and way below freezing tonight. Anything else you need? No? Okay."

The Doctor stepped into the Tardis and Jack raised an eyebrow at me.

"How long has he had you, gorgeous?"

"Not long."

"And he's already wrapped around your finger." Jack chuckled.

"Doesn't this happen with most of his companions? Donna, Martha, Rose, and that was just this regeneration, well," I paused mid-explanation, "Rose was two regenerations, but that's beside the point."

"How do you know all that? Did Doc spill the beans on everything to you already?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Nope, I already knew it all before I got to meet him." I smiled smugly, "Doctor Who."

"Why did he say that a minute ago anyway?" Jack wondered aloud to me.

"I'll explain later." I brushed off the question and looked back towards the Tardis.

The Doctor opened the door and was about to stumble out with all of the things he was bringing. Then the door slammed shut in his face.

"Doctor?" I asked in alarm.

"Holly? Jack? Was that you guys?" I heard him through the door. He banged on the wood, "Not funny."

I ran up to the door and yanked on the handle. It wouldn't budge. Jack knocked on it and jerked too, but it wouldn't move.

"Wasn't us, Doc," Jack called.

"The door won't open at all," I announced.

I heard something click inside the blue box and heard the sounds of the Tardis about to leave.

"Doctor! Where are you going? Open the door!" I shouted.

"It isn't me, Holly!" he yelled back.

I pulled at the door again. Then Jack grabbed me and pulled me away from the Tardis. I squirmed to get out of his grip.

"Jack!"

"Holly, it's no use," he said sternly, "Touch it when it leaves and the energy will kill you."

"No! But he's leaving!" I cried out.

"I'll try to get back soon!" I heard the Doctor shout before the Tardis faded from view.

Jack let go of me and I fell into the cold, wet snow where the Tardis used to be. I set a hand in the square of space.

"Doctor," I whispered.

"Holly, you should get up. The snow is going to drain your body heat if you just sit there," reasoned Jack, "He'll probably be back in a minute, grinning his head off."

"No," I said softly, "Last time he tried to find me at a certain time he was three years late."

"Oh," Jack was silent, "You should still get up. Come on, gorgeous."

Jack lifted me up by my arm and I shivered as a chilling wind blew around us.

"We're trapped," I observed solemnly, "Trapped in the middle of winter, in the past. If it's this cold now, and the Doctor said it'll get colder, I may not survive the night."

"Relax," Jack said with a reassuring smile, but it looked forced to me. "The Doctor will be back soon."

"And if he isn't?"

"Just stay close to me."

Jack started walking towards a group of trees in the distance and I ran to catch up to him.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I stuffed my hands in my pockets.

"I'm not familiar with the area, and I take it you aren't either, based on the fact it's a few hundred years younger than you know. So I think we should find shelter from the wind for overnight. If," he added, "If the Doctor isn't back by then."

"Fair enough," I muttered.

We trudged through snow and ice for a little while. The trees hadn't looked like they were too far away at the beginning. Now they didn't look any closer. Jack gave up on them and instead found somewhat of a hill. He dug into the snow to form a little den. He packed the snow and ice together so it was stable and deep. Then he half shoved me down into it.

I yelped in surprise as I fell and sat in the little hole.

"Where did he find you at?" Jack chuckled as he sat down beside me.

"My school," I muttered.

"He picked an uneducated girl to travel with," Jack smirked.

"No!" I said defensively, "That was eight years ago, or rather 200 years from now."

"Ah, so he made you finish school. And then he took you with him."

"Sort of," I mumbled. "Why'd you show up anyway; if you're just going to make fun of m-me and the D-doctor?"

"Ah, you're stuttering now. I assume that isn't normal?"

"Shut up-p. I'm j-just c-cold is all," I snapped, though not very threateningly with my newfound stuttering.

"Then scoot over here," Jack patted the snow next to him. "I won't bite."

I didn't move. Instead I looked out of our little hole at the sky. The sun was nearly finished setting and light was disappearing fast.

"It's almost d-dark," I commented. I watched my breath swirl out of my mouth. "D-does you v-vortex m-manipulator d-do anything useful like g-g-give off light or heat-t?"

"Nope. Doc broke it so I couldn't travel after him. Said I would do too much damage," Jack explained, "Are you going to explain how you know about my vortex manipulator?"

"P-probably n-not-t," I stuttered, shivering violently and with enough teeth chattering to bite off my tongue.

"You will. Eventually."

Jack probably gave up on convincing me to move over next to him. He must have, because he reached over and pulled me over with one arm.

"Hey-y," I complained.

"Hush, you'll stay warmer if you don't talk," Jack commanded with a sly smile.

He opened the side of his coat and I begrudgingly curled up beside him. Jack put an arm around me, partly to heat me up and partly to keep me beside him I'm sure. I found myself start to get a little bit less cold after a moment.

"Better?" he asked.

I nodded reluctantly. "B-but what about y-you?"

"What about me? What's the worst that could happen to me? Freeze to death?" he snickered.

"How d-did you know to d-do this, Jack? To make a little d-dugout in the snow l-like this?"

"I've lived in plenty of places," he responded.

We were quiet for a little while. I watched the sun finally disappear around the side of the Earth and everything went pitch black. As the quarter moon rose in the sky, the cold wind picked up again. I curled closer into his side and Jack tightened his coat around us. I blinked sleepily and lay my head on Jack's chest. I listened to his heartbeat.

"So why did the Doctor go to your school?" he asked eventually.

"I th-think it was an accident. Luckily enough f-for him I w-was the only o-one around." I smiled at the memory. "H-he would've had a tough time explaining a big blue box in the middle of a school hallway." My stutters finally stopped.

"Why'd he take you?"

"He needed information, like how I had known about him and everything already. He stopped us in space so I would explain it all. Then he asked me to be his companion. He said I was like a little him."

"How did he come to that conclusion?" Jack laughed quietly.

"I was much more exciting and energetic back then, trust me. The Doctor says I still would be, had I—never mind."

"Had you what?" Jack pressed.

"Had I not married my husband," I whispered. "Mark abused me. I suppose if the Doctor had taken me when I was in school, I never would've met Mark. But the universe works in mysterious ways."

"Yeah, it does," Jack agreed after frowning at the mention of what Mark did.

There was a silence. But I wanted to ask before either of us fell asleep.

"Why did the Tardis leave, Jack? Where do you think she took the Doctor?"

"I can only assume there was a very good reason."

"What do we do if he doesn't come back, Jack?"

"I haven't thought about that yet, because he will come back. He can't just leave _you _in the wrong century."

"But if he gets the time wrong again. What do we do?"

"Let's think about it in the morning. You should get some rest now."

I followed this suggestion nearly immediately. Looking up at Jack, seeing the faint outline of him through the darkness, I set my head back down on his chest and closed my eyes.

Even in the cold, sleep came relatively easy.

**There:) Pardon me if there are French mistakes. I used Google 'cause I don't no any French:)**

** Now you can review. And please do! If I get more reviews, I may have more incentive to right.**

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	9. Author's Note 2

**Author's Note**

**Since none of you look at my page.**

**I have another poll up. It is extremely vague and a little confusing, but I would appreciate if you voted. I can't continue this story unless you do.**

**Lots of Love, my readers :)**


	10. Tic Tac Toe, Three Wolves in a Row

**Okay, it's been a little while, but I've finally got it!:)**

I woke up to bright sunlight on my face. Squinting, I lifted my head and looked at Jack.

"Morning," I greeted him.

"You awake this time?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"You talk in your sleep," Jack chuckled as my cheeks turned red.

"What did I say?" I asked worriedly.

"Not much too interesting," Jack shrugged under the arm I had on him so I could sit up, "You were mumbling about Mark for a little bit. Then you brought up the Doctor."

"What did I say about him?" I asked warily as Jack paused.

"I have a question first."

"What?"

"Be completely honest with me."

"What, Jack?" I asked impatiently.

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Fine, why?"

"You didn't get woken up or anything?"

"No, _why_," I repeated.

"Nothing," he changed subjects, "So, about what you said about the Doctor."

"Wait, why did you ask about how I slept, Jack?" I ignored the last of what he said.

"What? Don't you believe I can be a considerate person? I'm a gentleman. I just wanted to know if sleeping on me was very comfortable."

"What happened last night?"

"Nothing, beautiful," Jack sent me a charming grin, "Did you want something to happen?"

"You're a pig, you know that?" I pulled away from him and crossed my arms.

"Eh, I've been called worse. So do you want to know what you said or not?"

"Fine," I grumbled, "What did I say?"

"First," Jack started as if beginning to tell a funny story, "You were muttering about stupid rhinos leaving you both on the moon. And how you took it better than Martha did."

"And how is that funny?" I interrupted.

"You said he kissed you," Jack smirked as I got red yet again.

"It wasn't a kiss. It was a genetic transfer," I grumbled in defense.

"Fair enough," Jack admitted, "But then you were talking about how good he looked surfing. He took you _surfing_? And when did he ever learn how to _surf_?"

"Yeah, we went to some beach on another planet somewhere," I explained, hoping to deter Jack from the subject of me liking the Doctor in any way.

"And the Doctor knows how to surf. Was he any good?"

"I don't know, I guess he was. I fell asleep on the beach."

"You didn't swim?"

"No, Jack," I sighed. "I still hadn't told him about Mark. The water would've uncovered the bruises. Though when I woke up, the Doctor made me tell him, then he stormed us back to the Tardis to visit Mark. Then he got Mark arrested, then we went to Paris, and then we ended up here. You know the rest."

"Doc got mad and arrested a human when they walked into their own home?" Jack eyebrows shot up.

"Actually the Doctor waited in another room for Mark to show up. Then when Mark saw the Doctor, he thought I was having affair and tried to hurt me again. The Doctor shoved Mark into a wall before he could do anything. I reminded Mark who the Doctor was, and Mark knew he wouldn't actually hurt him, so he tried to get me again. Then the cops showed up 'cause my neighbor called them."

"Interesting story. But how did Mark know the Doctor?" Ah, the question.

"The Doctor is, or rather was, a television character. Doctor Who." I looked over at Jack to see his expression. He didn't look all that surprised.

"Am I in it?" He _would_ ask about himself.

"A little bit." I admitted.

We sat in silence. Then my stomach rumbled. Jack looked down at my stomach, and then up at me.

"Hungry? Because we may have to wait a little while for food," Jack said.

"Oh," I remembered the lack of fast food places in disappointment.

"If you fall asleep, you won't think about it. Want to come lay with me again?" Jack offered, patting his chest where I'd slept earlier. I would've almost agreed, except for the way he said it. I half stood to crawl out of the shelter.

"I'm leaving," I stated.

"Come on, Holly, it's too cold for you out there," Jack pointed out.

"Meh," I mumbled as I crawled out of the hole.

I stood up and tightened my little jacket around me. Jack was right about the cold. But I wasn't going to let him know he was right. I had pride issues as a kid and they were resurfacing without Mark here.

I looked around, hoping to see a familiar blue box in the snow. There was nothing but ice and snow. Sun rays bounced off the gleaming surface of it all and I had to shield my eyes. There was a scrabbling sound behind me as Jack climbed out of the den. I turned to him.

"Nah, don't turn; waste of energy. You know it's me," he said before I could spin in his direction.

"Okay, I guess," I said as he came to a halt beside me. "So what do we do, then? Do we wait here and hope the Doctor shows up?"

"If we go anywhere else and he shows up, he may assume he came to the wrong time and leave," reasoned Jack.

"Based on that, what do we do now?" I asked.

"I have no clue. What do you think?" Jack shrugged at me.

_*25 minutes later*_

"Tic Tac Toe, I win," I mumbled as I put an X in a box and drew a line through it and the others two X's in the snow.

Jack sat back in a huff. "How do you win every time?"

"This is a boring game." I explained, "I've had forever to master it."

We had given up on everything and resorted to games in the snow. Jack insisted I sit with my back to the hill and mini-shelter so I wouldn't have the cold wind on my back while we waited. He is actually a nicer guy than they play him as in the TV shows.

"I'd give up, but there is nothing else to do," complained Jack.

I stand corrected; he is pretty much _exactly_ like he's played out as on TV.

"So now what? Want to play again? It's 23-0," a smile tugged at my lips.

"No bragging." Jack said sternly, but childishly.

I was about to respond sarcastically when I yawned.

"I think I'm just going to go take a nap." I went to turn around when Jack stopped me.

"It's warmer out here now, Holly."

"Yeah, but I'm more comfortable in there," I said and, before he said another word, turned and started towards the den.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Along the hill and in the snow beyond were streaks and trails of red, soaking into the ice. It was blood, and lots of it.

"Jack," my voice cracked.

"Holly," he put a hand on my shoulder to stop me from stepping forward. "It's nothing, really."

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?" I squeaked.

"Because you would start asking questions."

"If it's nothing, then tell me. Is _this _what you meant when you asked how I slept last night?" I asked and pointed shakily to the gore.

"You were quick to catch up on that," he commented before sighing, "Yes, I had to move you so I could solve a…issue, and was wondering if it had disturbed you."

"What _issue_?" I pressed, spinning looking up into his face, "What is all this from?"

"Well," he looked unsure of how to word it, "Most of it is mine, actually."

I squeaked and he put a hand on both of my shoulders so I wouldn't turn back to it. He leaned over to look me directly in the eyes.

"I'm okay now, gorgeous," he smiled reassuringly. "I healed up after I died. Don't-" he covered my mouth with a cold hand before I could exclaim, "Relax, we are safe now."

"What was the danger?" I asked, "Jack, what killed you last night?"

"A pack of wolves; three big wolves started sniffing about around two hours before sunrise. I had to move you so I could go get rid of them. Took a while, but they are all on the other side of the hill. Didn't want to leave you to drag them farther off," Jack explained.

"But you don't look like you just killed a bunch of wolves," I pointed out in my shock.

Jack opened up his long coat. His shirt had long shreds taken off by claws. There was a little red around each mark. I swallowed back the bile in my mouth. Seeing Jack die on T.V. had never been that violent. But this had happened so close that I couldn't think about it. I jumped forward and hugged him tightly with tears in my eyes. He gently rubbed between my shoulders as I sniffled.

"It's okay," he murmured. "We're okay now. The Doctor will be here soon. I promise we'll be fine."

"What if he doesn't show, Jack?" I sniffed.

"He will. That man doesn't leave his companions, especially not in the cold and past. Don't think about it," Jack consoled me while rhythmically rubbing my back.

I wiped my eyes and lay my head against him. We stood like that for a few minutes. Then I heard growling. Jack and I spun around simultaneously. Behind each of us, a few feet away, was a wolf.

"Jack," I whispered, "There's one over here too."

I heard him cuss loudly. I heard scraping as the other wolf's claws hit the ice when it jumped at Jack. He shoved me to the side, where his wolf had stood seconds before. Now he was between me and the second, but he was clutching the jaws of a silver-gray wolf. It was on top of him with its mouth wide open, but his bloody fingers pried the jaws apart and held it off of him.

The other wolf, a darker grey, watched the fight for a second before pacing around in a wide circle towards me. I gulped and stepped back slowly: away from the wolf, the fight, and the den.

"Holly! Try to…scare it off…" Jack ordered between gasps for air under the silver wolf, "Like…yell, and make…a lot of noise. Oi! Get _off_!"

I watched the grey wolf stalk closer in fright. I was paralyzed in panic.

"Go away!" I screamed and waved my arms like a maniac. "Leave! Ahh, don't come _closer_!"

He or she paused and looked at me in an animal's way of saying "she's lost it". Then it started stalking closer. I stepped back two more steps.

Jack screamed in pain. The wolf had gotten a hold of his arm. I quickly wiped away tears and screamed with more ferocity.

"Go _away!_" I screamed at the top of my lungs and took a step towards the wolf and flailed my arms.

The wolf took a confused step back. Jack screamed again and the sound directed the wolf's attention to him. I scooped up freezing snow in my hand and threw it at the wolf's head. I hit it square in the face. It snarled and slowly turned its head back to me.

"Crap," I mumbled.

It stalked towards me again, head looking up at me and lips curled back in anger. I took a chance to glance away from it to Jack. He arm was a total mess, but he had the silver wolf by the mouth. I looked back to my own problem and stumbled back a few more steps. It jumped at me.

I dove to the side, only getting claws raked through my clothes. They scratched my side, but I knew it wasn't too bad. The wolf landed on its feet and spun around again. It snarled again and crouched to pounce.

Then, as I shielded my face in terror, I heard the whistling sounds of the universe. But instead of the Tardis appearing out of nowhere though, I watched it dropped, spinning, from the sky and crash to the ground. In the back of my mind I realized that the wolf was underneath it, noted because of the red liquid leaking out. In another piece of mind, I saw the silver wolf leap up and run away. Jack was lying on the ground not moving.

I tore over to him. Jack didn't even make a sound as I got on my knees next to him. I cringed at the sight of all the blood and destroyed flesh.

"Come one, Jack, you big buffoon," I mumbled in panic, "Heal and wake up!"

I saw his skin start to seal itself up and then heard a thud from in the Tardis. I jolted up.

"Doctor?" I called through the door before pulling it open.

The Doctor fell out into the snow in a writhing heap.

"Doctor!" I exclaimed and dropped to his side. "_Doctor_!" I repeated in shock.

"It was a Dalek," he groaned and convulsed again. "It somehow found a way to control the Tardis—" he paused to suck in a breath, "I destroyed the technology. It won't be able to replace that tech, but it—," he gasped again and couldn't finish, though it went without saying.

"No, no! Don't go, Doctor." I whimpered. "You aren't supposed to die like this!"

A sound over my shoulder indicated that Jack was alive again, but my entire focus was on the Doctor. Jack put a hand on my shoulder.

"Holly, it's too late. You know what's happening. We need to get him into the Tardis."

"But he isn't supposed to go like this," I sobbed, not caring what they found out as I blurted, "It happens after he stops the Master and the other Time Lords! And with Wilfred! Not because of some stupid Dalek! You meet Amelia _alone_!"

Jack and I half dragged him back into the Tardis. He thrashed on the floor and Jack pulled me away from him.

"We can't stop it, Holly. We need to stay back," he said seriously and I felt tears drip down my face.

"Doctor," I whimpered again.

"I'm sorry, Holly," the Doctor gasped, "I'm regenerating."

And on that horrid note he stumbled to his feet and he, for lack of a better word, exploded, in a flash of golden fire.

**So much sadness going on, but hey, sometimes these things just write themselves.  
Review? \/\/\/\/\/**


	11. Regeneration's First Go At Flying

**Okay, I'm back. You need stress no longer!**

_Jack and I half dragged him back into the Tardis. He thrashed on the floor and Jack pulled me away from him._

"_We can't stop it, Holly. We need to stay back," he said seriously._

"_Doctor," I whimpered again._

"_I'm sorry, Holly," the Doctor gasped, "I'm regenerating."_

_On that horrid note he stumbled to his feet as he, for lack of a better word, exploded, in a flash of golden fire._

__-_-(now)-_-__

I was momentarily blinded as the shiny light and fire shot out from him. I curled against Jack and shut my eyes. Then the sounds stopped and I peeked out at the new Doctor. He looked just like the eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. He was doing inventory, making sure he still had legs and arms; and complaining about his hair color.

Then he remembered we were here. He looked up with his familiar half insane smile. I relaxed a little after the initial recognition, but still had tears dripping down my face. The whole timeline was getting messed up. I'd seen his new regeneration's first episode dozens of times, but what happened now, was beyond me.

Jack let me go as the new Doctor came over. The Doctor bent down to look at me, because he was now taller, and gazed in my eyes. He lifted a hand and brushed the tears off my cheeks. The touch was similar to when I'd met him the second time, after eight years, but with his new hand it was unfamiliar and that frightened me.

"It's still me, Holly," he whispered, momentarily serious.

"I know," I sniffed. "But you shouldn't have changed."

"You don't like the new me?" he asked, worried and a little hurt.

"No, it's not that," I said quickly, wiping my face again, and flinching in surprise as something exploded in another room, "I've seen plenty of episodes with you as this regeneration; it's just that…you weren't supposed to die that way. You die alone. What if it doesn't turn out like it should have? _Everything_ in your future happens because of what goes on _right_ _now_."

"What should've happened, then?" he asked before looking over at Jack, "And you mister, are going right back to Earth of your proper time. Have you got that?"

Jack nodded sadly. The Doctor flashed me a reassuring grin and dashed over to the controls of the now burning Tardis. She shook violently, tilting to the side, and he yanked on a few levers. I looked at the almost destroyed screen and shrieked.

"Giant clock!"

The Doctor swerved around the Big Ben and the Tardis doors flew open. He slammed another control and we weaved passed another building. Jack fell, thanks to stupid gravity, across the room and slipped out the door. He was only hanging by his fingers.

"Jack!" I exclaimed.

"I'll be fine," he called. "Doc, just drop down a little lower and I'll jump, okay?"

"Still the idiot I remember," the Doctor muttered, but did as told. Jack dropped and I held back a scream.

I held onto the doorframe and looked out. Jack stood up from the concrete and waved at me. I waved cautiously back as dozens of people ran to see if he was alright. I pulled my head back in to make sure I didn't fall out and tried to shut the door. It fell open again so I gave up and stumbled back to the Doctor.

"So what's supposed to happen here, Holly?" The Doctor said excitedly.

"You crash!" I shouted in worry, "into the yard of a house with a little Scottish girl, Amelia! You _have_ to meet her or nothing will happen as it should!"

"Well, then," he grinned at me. "Geronimo!"

We continued across the sky as the Tardis twisted and turned, sometimes nearly smashing into things. We narrowly missed a huge tree and the Tardis spun upside down for a minute. My grip slipped from the rail I held onto during the time we were wrong-side up and the Doctor barely caught my arm. He had a strong one-handed grip on the rail. I clung to his hand and hoped his fingers didn't slip.

After what felt like forever, we got turned again and I hit the floor with a grunt of surprise. The Doctor pulled me to my feet with a laugh.

"So you _do_ like my new form?" he clarified.

"Yes!" I laughed with him. "I like your new form. Now make sure we crash in the right place!"

The Tardis knocked us all around for a few more minutes while the Doctor tried to fix and drive at the same time. I gave up on trying helping and started focusing on staying on my feet. I was not succeeding. We spun off again and I fell against the railing. The Doctor was laughing.

"She's crashing, but she has a specific spot picked out for the crash!" he whooped. "Hold on tightly, Holly."

"I am!" I exclaimed anxiously.

"Good, because you may get a little shaken up in three, two," he slammed down a lever, "one!"

The Tardis crashed into the ground and I nearly pulled my arm out of socket as I was jerked off my feet. I squeaked in shock as the Doctor tumbled across and into the depths of the Tardis. I heard a distant splash as he fell into the swimming pool. I dangled from the railing for a moment with no clue what to do.

"Doctor?" I called out. "What do I do?"

"There should be a rope," he answered from the library where I knew he'd be, "Tied to the rail or floor! Try to get a hold of it and drop it down. I'll catch it and climb up!"

"I'll try!" I said doubtfully.

I twisted my neck to look about. Looped around the metal of a latch on the floor, was the rope. I was a good five feet from it. I inched my way along the bar, wincing as my pained muscles stretched. I let go with one hand and reached out. Eight inches. I glanced about once more and pushed off against the pilot chair towards the rope. Two inches. I extended my arm and fingers and managed to snag the rope. Jerking it from the loop, I let it drop after seeing one end firmly knotted to the latch.

"Thank you!" I heard him say.

The rope got tugged once. Then it swayed gently as he climbed up. A few minutes later the Doctor had made his way up next to me. He smiled and looked up. I realized the door was seven or eight feet above our heads.

"I'll bet you could reach that," he grinned. "With a good balance on something."

I stared at him. "You can't be serious."

"Maybe the new me is," he shrugged.

I shook my head in a way some could describe as frantically or insanely. "No. If there is one thing that I know about this you, is that you are almost never serious."

"Then just go along with it," he smiled contagiously. "I'll give you a boost and you try to reach the door. It shouldn't be too hard since it's open."

I crawled under the rail so I was half-laying on it and looking up at the door. Using the floor like a wall, I managed to get balanced on the metal railing. I stretched up at the door, but fell short few feet.

The Doctor mimicked me somewhat and stood balanced at my side. Before I could blink, he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up towards the ceiling, or well, wall. I got my bearings and grabbed the side of the gap where the door was. I held myself up with my arms around the outside of the wall and peered out.

Little Amelia was standing a few feet back staring at me holding a flashlight. I smiled reassuringly.

"Hello there," I greeted before hefting myself out of the box.

I sat on the edge with my feet swinging over the edge. I glanced back into the Tardis. The Doctor was a foot too short to reach me, even with his long arms.

"Isn't there a big hook on that rope or something?" I asked him. He grabbed the rope and, sure enough, found a big hook. "So if you have all that, why not a towel?"

He mock-glared at me with his wet hair stuck to his forehead.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Amelia asked. "Who else is in there?"

"Just the Doctor," I answered and dropped from the box. "We might want to step back a bit."

I pulled Amelia back a few feet and the Doctor tossed the hook out. It attached itself to the swing set and he hoisted himself out. He took a breath and smiled at Amelia.

"Got any apples?" he asked as he stumbled over the edge onto the ground at our feet.

"Watch it, spaceman," I rolled my eyes.

"Are you policemen? Or policeman and woman?" Amelia looked up at us once the Doctor got to his feet.

"No," the Doctor said as I said, "Yes." He looked at me funny.

"Yes," I repeated and bent down to her level. "We're here to check out that crack in your wall. But first, have you got anything to eat?"

She bobbed her head and started back towards the house. The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows.

"A _crack_ in her _wall_?"

"Yeah, it plays a big part in your first season." I said vaguely, "But first let's go eat, I haven't had food for a day or two now."

"Oh right, the Dalek thing," he muttered, "Are you alright? I wasn't too late?"

"Jack and I were there for about a day, but you squished one of the wolves, so that's good."

"Wolves!" his eyebrows shot up.

I glanced at the side of my shirt and found that when the wolf had missed me, he or she had ripped a few strips of my shirt.

"Did it hurt you?" he dropped to a knee and examined my side.

He prodded the skin beneath the shreds with cold fingers. I flinched and I saw Amelia walk back over with confusion on her face. I giggled.

"That tickles," I said childishly. "And I'm fine."

"Okay, let's go-oh!" he clutched his sides and rolled over groaning.

"Are you alright?" Amelia repeated.

"Yep, this is perfectly norma-ah!" he coughed and gold dust floated from his mouth.

"You're a weird policeman," Amelia commented.

"Yes he is," I patted her shoulder in agreement, "Now about that food?"

I followed her towards the house and heard a _thud_ as the Doctor ran into something. "Your steering is still a bit off, Doctor." I called over my shoulder.

He mumbled to himself and quickly followed. Amelia led us to the kitchen and got out an apple. I snatched it before the Doctor could take it.

"Hey!" he complained.

"Trust me," I kindly to Amelia, "It'll save time if you just make fish fingers and custard."

She spun around to do as I instructed while I took a bite of the apple.

"Why can't I have apples?" the Doctor whined.

"You hate apples, learn that," I ordered sternly, "And yogurt, and bacon, and beans, and bread with butter, and a bunch of other stuff."

"Oh yeah, forgot you memorized every bloody thing," he rolled his eyes.

Amelia gave him a bowl of custard and plate of fish sticks. He sat down with glee and started shoveling it into his mouth. Amelia got a spoon and carton of ice cream and sat down across the table. I sat beside them both with my apple. Amelia looked at me.

"Is that all you're going to eat?" she asked.

"For now," I pointed at her, "I have to maintain a somewhat healthy diet because I'm a grown up. You're a little girl and he," I motioned to the Doctor drinking the custard, "doesn't ever change. I have a figure to keep. But don't worry, you are a great cook, I'm sure."

The Doctor put down the bowl and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

"You figure is perfectly fine, Holly. You should try this stuff; it's brilliant. As for you," he pointed to the girl.

"Amelia Pond," she interrupted.

"Wonderful, _Amelia_. Like a name in a fairytale. Where's your mum and dad?" he asked and ate another fish stick.

"Don't have any. Just an aunt. She's out now." Amelia responded.

"She left you alone?" he said with his mouth full.

"I'm not _scared_," Amelia sounded insulted.

"Course you're not. Box falls out of the sky, man and woman fall out of the box, man eats fish custard. So you know what I think?" he paused.

"What?"

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall," he answered.

He jumped up and started walking around, inspecting everything, and then walked out of the room. I threw away my apple core and looked at Amelia's startled expression.

"Sorry, he'll always be a bit like this." I apologized and motioned towards the door, "Could you lead the way?"

She skipped up the stairs by the door. The Doctor was still on the first floor, so I grabbed his hand as I started up the staircase. We got to Amelia's room and the Doctor immediately went to examine the crack in the wall above her bed. He hadn't let go of my hand, and pulled me along as well. He studied it for a moment and didn't let go of my hand. Instead, he pressed my palm against the wall by the crack.

"Do you feel that?" he asked.

"Yeah," I mumbled as I felt a vibration slowly beneath the surface of the wall. I traced the line with my finger slowly. The power emanating from it was immense.

"It's the crack in time and space." I muttered quietly to myself, then to the crack, "You cause a lot of trouble, you know? You nearly kill the Doctor, shame on you."

The Doctor snatched a glass from Amelia's beside table and, ignoring her complaint, dumped the water over his shoulder. He placed the glass against the wall, and his ear against the glass.

"Prisoner Zero," he muttered as he listened.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," Amelia and I said at the same time, "That's what it keeps saying."

"Can I borrow your sonic?" I asked innocently.

He slowly withdrew it from his pocket. Glancing at it, then me, he carefully put it in my outstretched hand. My fingers closed around it and I directed the blue end towards the crack in the wall. I clicked the button and the crack opened. A giant eye peered through, and I watched a particle of something shoot towards the Doctor's psychic paper. Then the crack slammed shut and the startled Doctor ripped the paper from his pocket.

"'Prisoner Zero has escaped'," he read quietly. "And they would only bother telling us if he was here."

"So was that Prisoner Zero?" Amelia asked as the Doctor looked frantically around the room and darted down the hall.

"Nope, I think that was Prisoner Zero's guard," I told her and followed the Doctor.

I knew what he was looking for, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what it was. He jumped down the stairs and stood relatively still. Then he kept turning around to look behind him and go back to face the front door. I looked around to each of the five doors, hoping to find a clue as to why I couldn't remember what was supposed to happen.

"What are you looking for, Doctor?" I asked him and he jerked towards me.

He stood in front of me and looked across my face. It was somewhat intimidating. I leaned back from his stare. He still didn't move so much as an inch.

"_What?_" I asked.

"You don't know what's happening," he stated, still searching my eyes for the knowledge I didn't possess.

"I swear I do, I just, can't remember," I paused, kind of creeped out by how hard he was staring into my eyes.

"Why not? You remembered everything else? Why not this little piece?" he interrogated.

"_I don't know_!" I exclaimed.

"Why not this little piece?" he repeated, this time it was spoken partly to himself. "You remember everything that has and will happen, yet you don't know what I find now."

There was a sudden _bang_ outside and we all jumped in surprise. The Doctor bolted for the back door and we quickly followed. The Tardis was upright and not smoking as bad now. The Doctor hugged the blue box before running inside. Then he peeked out the door.

"I need to take her on a little trip to make sure she's alright. I'll be five minutes, just pop to the moon and back. Holly can stay here with you."

"No, I think I should come with you, Doctor," I shook my head when I remembered what would happen, and added, "Just got a feeling."

"Oh, okay then, hop in!" he said, cheerfully unaware of what would happen.

I ducked under his arm into the Tardis and sat down in the pilot seat. He convinced Amelia he'd only be a moment and shut the door. I stood up again and leaned against the console.

"Right then," he clapped his hands together as he spun around to face me, "As they said at some point in time on this planet: To the moon or bust! Though I'd prefer it didn't bust, that's my point of going to the moon anyway, making sure she doesn't bust. If I'd wanted her to do that, I wouldn't bother going at all, and would have done something to her myself, which I wouldn't do."

As he continued debating this, he pressed a bright button. He instructed me on what to do to drive and we were off. I kept a hand on the correct lever and another hand hovering over the buttons; the Doctor stayed behind me and watched over my shoulder. We stayed pretty steady during the flight. When the Tardis started shaking violently again, the Doctor placed his steady hands over mine to shift my grip and level us out again. His larger fingers balanced on each of my smaller fingers. He directed my hands and I watched carefully, trying to imprint the directions he gave while showing me into my head.

The Doctor's breath was warm on my neck when he leaned over to put my hand on a different device with a complicated name. The Tardis shook and I fell back into him. After putting an arm around my waist to make sure I was steady, he gently moved my hands one more time.

"Easy now," he said softly as he directed me to push down on a lever a few degrees. "There we go."

I heard the sounds indicating landing and the Doctor released my hands and stepped back. I suddenly felt a shade colder without him close to me.

"Well, that wasn't too bad for a first try," he checked a screen, "We were off course by a few hundred miles, but-"

"It's better than your aim, sometimes," I smiled impishly with my tongue between my teeth.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and flung the door open. The barren moon was beyond the doorway. I slowly stepped outside, keeping a hold on the doorframe. I raised my eyes to the stars in the skies above us. They sparked in space like little diamonds on a black velvet background. It was wonderful to get to see them without having to rush into a hospital placed on the moon.

The Doctor stepped out beside me and put an arm around my shoulder.

"What d'you think, Holly?" he asked.

"It's beautiful," I said softly.

"Right then, well, I'd saw we got a minute before we have to get back little Amelia, then. Enjoy it, would you like a cup of tea?" he questioned.

"No, never really had a liking for tea," I said vaguely, still staring off into space.

"What kind of decent person doesn't like tea?" he pouted.

"I'll bet your new mouth doesn't even like tea," I mumbled.

He stuck his tongue out at me. I smiled and got back in the Tardis.

"Let's just get back to Amelia," I said, knowing we needed to get there late, for whatever it was.

"Yes," he agreed and motioned to the controls. "Would you like to try again?"

"Oh, why not?" I bounced over to his side.

He took my hands and placed them on the correct buttons and levers.

"Steady now," he murmured before rattling off a list of instructions.

And we were off yet again.

**Tada! Again!  
Guess what? That wittle button is a bit wonely, would you press it?  
****\/**


	12. We're back! 12 years late

**I know I know, it's been a little while, well I've been busy. I don't waste my _whole_ life on this site, you know.**

I managed to land with only minimal issues, besides nearly running to the White House in the year 1934. The Doctor was still laughing when I put the brakes on.

"Did you see his face?" he laughed and clutched his sides. "Poor Franklin, I thought we'd give him a heart attack."

"You are so immature," I muttered, but still chuckled. "Now we need to figure out what you were looking for at Amelia's."

"Oh, that. I've already figured out why I couldn't see it. We should hurry so we can find it in time. And by the way, she gave me a wonderful apple! With a face! Apparently from her mum." And on that wonderfully short notice, he bolted for the door.

I followed slowly, knowing he was going to get hit over the head by Amelia/Amy at any minute. I watched him run into the house and walked through the door after him. I wasn't really focused on that though. I still couldn't remember where the Prisoner Zero was. I slowly followed up the stairs, but didn't come up on the floor beside the Doctor.

"Doctor," I spoke levelly.

"Yeah?" he turned from the wall he was sonicing, in time for Amy to smack him in the head with a cricket bat.

She spun to me and raised it.

"Easy there, Amelia," I cautioned her. "Or rather, Amy."

"How do you know me?" she asked and held up her fake radio. "I will call for back up. This is breaking and entering!"

"Amy, I know it's fake." I sighed. "I know you are the little girl from twelve years ago, and I know you aren't really a police woman. Although, when the Doctor wakes up, _he_ won't know that."

"But why do you know; who are you?" she said forcefully.

"I'm Holly, the Doctor's companion, you remember me, right?"

"Yes, but why do you know who I am and why won't he?"

"Because he honestly expected to get here on time, I knew he wouldn't." I went further as to explain that I was from another dimension and that I knew most of what would happen, but I didn't mention beyond her hitting him.

"So I suggest," I continued, "When he wakes up, you continue to pretend you're a police woman and that I don't know you, okay? I'll play stupid so this goes like it should. As for now, could I go get some food? Last thing I had was that apple twelve years ago."

"Go ahead, I'll be here," she said Scottishly and calculating.

"Fine by me, oh, and by the way," I called as I went downstairs to the kitchen. "Pretend it has only been six months, and that Amelia isn't living here anymore!"

As I went downstairs I heard the Doctor waking up. I pulled an apple from the fridge and sat at the table. Munching it, I listened to the story unfold upstairs. The Doctor started panicking.

"Where's Holly?" he demanded.

"Who?" Amy lied innocently.

"American, about your height, pretty girl." I smiled. "She was with me, where is she now?"

I took another bite and listened to what Amy would say. She was about to come up with a story.

And then I remembered.

I remembered what the Doctor had been looking for. I remembered the perception filter. I remembered who and what the Prisoner Zero was. I remembered everything that should happen in this episode. I dropped my apple on the table in shock.

"The perception filter must've muddled my memory a bit," I concluded to myself with a confused frown, "But how would it work like that? Argh, eight year old memories; no specifics in my head what so ever."

I remembered the Atraxi and what they were going to do.

"Oh, shoot," I muttered. "They want to incinerate us. Forgot that bit. Well, it won't happen, unless I really destroy the episode. Man, I really hate having to go along with all this and not say anything."

Suddenly I heard barking, very loud barks, coming from upstairs. I jumped from my chair.

"They can't have gotten that far already, how long was I thinking for?"

I ran to the window and looked outside.

"That means any second now," I muttered in feared anticipation. Sure enough, I was right, no surprise there.

_Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded._

"What was that?" I heard Amy whisper loudly.

"That would be back up." The Doctor answered, slightly confused. Then with composure, "Okay, so we _do_ have back up, and that's why we are safe."

_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated._

"Well, apart from, you know," the Doctor said, "incineration."

Prisoner Zero must've left the room, because I finally heard the Doctor run down the stairs, followed by Amy. He was opening the door when I came up behind them. He jerked back when he saw me.

"She said you got attacked by a rabid dog and were in the hospital!" he accused. "_And_ she's a _kiss-o-gram_, not a police woman!"

"Is she now?" I said vaguely as I jerked the door open and shoved him out.

"Why did you lie?" he halted and asked Amy.

"You broke into my house!" she exclaimed as they started running towards the Tardis again. "And tell me what's happening!"

"An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house." I stole the Doctor's line and delivered it calmly. "Any questions?"

I ran up behind them as the Doctor tried to open the Tardis.

"It won't work!" I told him.

"I've figured that out." he said under his breath, and then jumped back waving an arm in the direction of the shed, "Wait! That shed! I smashed that shed to bits! We smashed it to bits, Holly!"

"We built a new one." Amy explained.

"But now the new ones old, ten years at least," he touched it and stuck his finger in his mouth; I grimaced. "Twelve years. I wasn't six months late, I was twelve years late. Why did you say six months?"

"We've got to go," Amy tried to interrupt.

"This is important! Why did you say six months when it was twelve years?"

"Why did _you_ say five minutes?" Amy broke down and yelled in his face.

He shut up, stunned.

"_What?_"

"Come on!" I groaned and, grabbing each of them by the hand, dragged them out of the backyard.

We ran passed the barking man and dog and ran up the street. The Doctor grabbed both of us by our wrists and pulled us to a stop. He released us and turned to Amy.

"You're Amelia Pond!"

"And you're late," she retorted.

"You're the little girl!"

"I'm Amelia and _you're late_," she reiterated and kept walking at a fast pace.

"What happened?"

"Twelve years happened."

"But you hit me with a cricket bat!"

She laughed, "Twelve years!"

"A _cricket bat_," he repeated.

"Twelve years, and four psychiatrists," she added.

"Four?" I saw a small smile appear on the Doctor's face.

"I kept biting them," Amelia muttered.

"_Why_?"

"They said you weren't real," she said as explanation.

_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated._

"Great, getting stalked out by an ice cream van," Amy said exasperated.

I followed the Doctor and Amy to the ice cream truck and then they both ran off. I quickly followed the Doctor over the fence and he burst into an old woman's house. I trailed after them slowly and missed the first big part of the conversation. The Doctor had his head out the window and Amy and the woman were watching him. He pulled his head back in and saw me.

"You were much faster when you were fifteen," he commented.

"Oh shut up, I was young and excited. I know what's happening now." I muttered and folded my arms childishly, leaning against the wall.

"So," he paused, "You know why I stuck my head out the window just now?"

"Yes."

"And why this woman thinks she knows me?" he continued.

"Yes," I snickered at Amy's expression.

"I do know you," the lady nodded and smiled, then turned to me, "And I know you too, from somewhere."

"Oh, yes, I forgot about me." I stood straight again and peered at Amy. "Me too, huh?"

Amy looked away.

"Anyway, yes there are aliens in the sky surrounding the entire Earth," I agreed with previous comments I hadn't heard, "So, we have about twenty minutes I'd say, before they can incinerate the planet."

"That's what I was going to say," the Doctor frowned, "It's funner when I can explain to people."

"More fun when you can show off to people," I corrected as I heard Jeff walk in.

The Doctor stared at Jeff for a minute, and then looked at me again.

"So twenty minutes you say?"

"Actually you said that and I was listening, or rather, you would have said that if I wasn't here, and it would've been correct. But since I am here, I technically said it. So yeah, twenty minutes."

The other three in the room looked confused, but the Doctor had followed my entire little speech. Jeff looked between us for a moment.

"Are you the Doctor?" he asked the Doctor, "And Holly?" he asked me.

"They are, aren't they?" the elderly woman smiled, not noticing Amy's flustered expression, "The raggedy Doctor and his young psychic girlfriend! The ones in all the cartoons you drew when you were little!"

"Psychic, huh?" I mumbled. "Wait, _girlfriend?_"

"They're all going to assume that, aren't they?" the Doctor murmured to me. "That'll be tiring to discourage, so why bother?" Then he looked oddly at Amy, "_Cartoons?_"

Trying to figure out whether he'd just implied saying we were a couple, I missed him sitting down.

"So as Holly said a few seconds ago, they aren't talking about your house, they mean the Earth. They're going to incinerate the planet. Twenty minutes to the end of the world," the Doctor finished, watching the TV screen of the Atraxi eye.

He stood up, shook Jeff and the old lady's hands and walked out the door. I apologized for his abruptness and followed as he questioned Amy of his whereabouts.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Leadworth."

"Where's the rest of it?"

"This is it."

"Is there an airport?"

"No."

"Nuclear power station?"

"No."

"Nearest city?"

"Half an hour by car."

"We don't have half an hour. Do we have a car?"

"Um, no."

"That's good. That's fantastic. So I have twenty minutes to save planet and I have a post office. And it's _shut_."

"You can do it," I encouraged.

"Of course I can. I'm the Doctor," he said smugly.

I rolled my eyes at how full of himself he could be, but couldn't deny he was right. Amy observed this in silence before the Doctor pointed ahead of us.

"What is that?" he asked.

"A duck pond," I answered without looking at it.

He ran up to it and stood on the edge of the little pond. I raised my eyebrows. You could hardly call it a pond; more of a puddle really. A really sad-looking, empty, duck puddle.

"Why aren't there any ducks?" the Doctor said suspiciously.

"I don't know. There are never any ducks," Amy responded, clearly confounded by the question.

"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?"

"It just is. Is it important, a duck pond?" Amy asked, leaning away from him.

"I don't know; why would I know?" he said before flinching back and clutching a hand to him chest. He dropped into the grass wincing. "This is too soon." he muttered and looked at Amy, probably correctly assuming I knew what was happening. "I'm not ready; I'm not done yet."

Suddenly it went dark. I could still see fine, but it was like a layer of something blocking the sun.

"What's happening," Amy panicked, "Why is it going dark? What's wrong with the sun?"

The lights came back on, for lack of a better phrase, and the sun and a mixed tint to it.

"Nothing." The Doctor explained, "You're looking at it through a force field. They've sealed off your upper atmosphere and now they're getting ready to ball the planet." He looked around and bounced up. "Oh, and here they come, the human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone."

"No need to hate on the human race," I muttered.

"This isn't real, this is all some sort of wind up," Amy was shaking her head and took a step back.

"Why would I wind you up?" the Doctor asked.

"You told me you had a time machine." Amy clasped her hands together.

"Yeah, and you believed me." The Doctor added.

"Then I grew up."

"Oh, gosh, you never want to do that," he sighed. Then jerked his head up, "Hold on, I missed something."

And I, being the wonderful person I am, grabbed his wrist after he hit himself in the head once. "No need to smack yourself, Doctor," I said, not wanting him to injure himself.

"What did I miss, Holly?" he asked me.

"Rory, nurse boy, over there," I pointed behind me at Rory, now looking at his phone facing the opposite direction as the other humans.

"Right," the Doctor agreed, "Twenty minutes, I can do it. Amy how's about it? Help me and Holly save the world?"

"No," Amy stated.

"What?"

"No!" she grabbed him by his tie and me by my sleeve. Then she dragged us over to a man and his car. He was about to close the door when Amy stuck my sleeve and the Doctor's tie in the door and slammed it shut. She snatched the old man's keys and locked the door.

"Are you out of your mind?" the Doctor and I shouted at the same time.

"Who are you?" Amy demanded.

"You know who I am," he answered.

"No really, who are you," she repeated.

"Look at the sky, end of the world, _twenty minutes_," he responded, half desperate.

"Well, better talk quickly, then," she retorted in his face.

"Um, Amy," the old man standing beside us tapped her shoulder, "I am going to need my car back."

"Yes, in a minute," she didn't even glance his way. "Now go and have coffee."

"Right," he said slowly and walked away.

I tugged at my sleeve, but it was latched in tightly. Afraid to rip it, I didn't apply too much pressure. This shirt had been a gift from my neighbor; the only one _he_ didn't burn. I left my hand balanced on the car at an awkward angle so I could turn back around and face Amy and the Doctor. He felt around his pockets and pulled out an apple, which he tossed at Amy.

"I'm the Doctor, that's Holly," he said quiet and serious, "We're time travelers. Everything we told you twelve years ago is true. We're real. What's happening in the sky is real. And if you don't let us go right now, then everything you've ever known is over."

Amy gripped the apple and I watched hopefully. "I don't believe you," she said.

"Twenty minutes," I pleaded.

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed and held Amy by the wrist, "Just believe me for twenty minutes." He held up her hand with the apple, "It's fresh as the day you gave it to me, look at it. You know it's the same one."

Amy looked incredulously at the apple, then to the Doctor, then to me, then back to the Doctor.

"Amy," he said softly, "Believe for twenty minutes."

She looked over to me and I nodded. Then she held out her hand and I took the car keys. I unlocked our door and pulled my sleeve and his tie from it.

"What do we do?" Amy asked.

"Stop that nurse," the Doctor responded quickly and bolted passed her.

Amy and I followed him over the little fence around the duck puddle. We reached him as he reached Rory. He snatched away Rory's cell phone and started studying it.

"The sun's going out and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?" he scrutinized Rory's startled face.

Amy hooked arms with Rory, slightly out of breath.

"Amy," Rory looked surprised, and then he glanced at me as I stood close to the Doctor's side.

"Oh, this is Rory," Amy explained, "Kind of a friend."

"Boyfriend," Rory corrected and she nodded a little.

"Man and a dog, why?" the Doctor repeated.

The Doctor watched Rory expectantly and Rory's eyes trailed from him to me and back. His eyes widened.

"Oh, my gosh. It's them."

"Yes, now answer the question." Amy interrupted nervously.

"It's him, though. The raggedy Doctor, and Holly," he stuttered. "But they were a story. A game."

I watched the Doctor loose his patience. He grabbed Rory by the front of the shirt and pulled them face to face.

"Man and dog. Why? Tell me. _Now."_ he commanded.

"Sorry," Rory said nervously, "Because he, he can't be there. Because he's-"

"In a hospital, in a coma," the Doctor and I said at the same time as Rory.

"Yeah," Rory nodded quickly.

The Doctor gave each of us a sideways smile, "Knew it. Multi-form, you see? Can disguise itself as anything. But it needs a life feed, a psychic link with an alive, but dormant mind," he jabbed Rory in the head.

Prisoner Zero barked fiercely. I jumped back in surprise, but the Doctor put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. Then he walked curiously over to the man and dog and I followed.

"Prisoner Zero," the Doctor smirked and I heard Rory behind us _What now there's a Prisoner Zero, too?_

A spacey sound informed us that one of the Atraxi ships had flown down and was scanning the village. Prisoner Zero growled in its general direction and looked back at the Doctor.

"That ship up there is scanning the area for non terrestrial technology. And nothing says non terrestrial, like a sonic screwdriver," The Doctor held up his sonic above his head and pressed the button. It made the signature sound and everything electrical in the surrounding area starting going off.

"Doctor careful!" I shouted, and the screwdriver partly exploded.

The Doctor quickly dropped it smoking body to the grass. I glanced up as the Atraxi ship flew off. The Doctor started shouting at it to come back and I saw Prisoner Zero slip down the sewer drain.

"Doctor," Amy said and tapped his shoulder, "Prisoner Zero, it just sort of, melted. Down the drain."

"Of _course_ it did," the Doctor responded as if it were obvious that would happen.

"Well what do we do now?"

"It's hiding in human form; we need to drive it out into the open." The Doctor sighed. "No Tardis, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes. Come on think!" He spun around and grabbed my arm. "Holly, you've seen all this already. What do I do now?"

"Well," I tried to remember, "You should probably explain to Amy and Rory about why the Atraxi showed up here same time as you, and then…it's hard to remember, this was a while ago for me. Explain to them, they really want to know. I'll try to remember."

Sure enough, Amy immediately bombarded the Doctor with questions; I sat in the grass and held my head in my hands as I tried to think. The Doctor took Rory's phone as I went over it all in my head. Amy-ice cream truck-old lady-Jeff-duck pond-sun-tie in door-Rory-questions-_Jeff._

"I remember. That guy, Jeff, had a laptop." I jumped to my feet as the Doctor turned back to me. "You would have said quote 'who was you're friend, not him, the good-looking one'," I motioned from Rory, who looked upset as I said this. "Then Amy immediately said Jeff, Rory said thanks, you remembered he had a laptop. You need Jeff's laptop so you can find the conference call of important people and explain what to do," I remembered it all, the specifics flowing into my head.

"Careful, Holly," the Doctor warned, "Not too much at once. But thank you, I do remember. I need Jeff's laptop," he smiled and put an arm around Amy and Rory, "Let me go get it. You two, get to the hospital. Get everyone out of that ward, clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done. Holly, you're with me."

Then he ran off, leaving Rory and Amy speechless and looking at each other in confusion. I rolled my eyes.

"Hospital, now, go!" I ordered.

Rory was taken aback by my tone, but Amy grabbed him by a wrist and pulled him in the direction I knew was Rory's car.

"But how can they be here?" Rory asked as he ran towards the vehicle.

I turned and ran after the Doctor. He had a good head start, but I caught up to by the time we reached the path into the house.

"Way to keep up this time," he congratulated me and barged into Jeff's room. "Laptop, gimme."

He yanked it away from Jeff and sat down. Jeff's grandmother came into the room, so I stayed in the corner to give everyone space, because frankly, it was a tiny room.

"Sun's gone wibbly, so somewhere out there, is gonna be a big old video conference call. All the experts in the world, panicking at once. And do you know who they need?" he didn't wait for an answer, "Me. Ah, here they are."

He listed off a bunch of fancy names and proved to them all not to turn off his screen. I could have listened, but instead tried to remember everything that will happen, in detail, in case anything went wrong. Amy and Rory should've managed to clear the floor in a few minutes and the Doctor was going to write a computer virus on a cell phone. Right, all this would happen, but what would I do during it?

I looked up when the Doctor stood.

"Come along, Holly," he smiled and took my hand and dragged me out of the room. He stopped in the hall and went back into the room for a moment, "And delete your internet history," he told Jeff before coming out to me again. "Let's go save the world."

We ran out of the house and he looked around from the sidewalk.

"Ha, fire truck," he laughed and went over to the unclaimed red vehicle.

He helped me up and started the engine. Then Rory's phone rang. He handed it to me and focused on the road.

"Hello, Amy?" I answered.

"Tell the Doctor we're at the hospital, but we can't get through!" Amy sounded worried.

"Look in the mirror," I told her. There was a pause.

"Haha, uniform!" I heard the smile in her voice. "Are you on your way? You're gonna need a car."

"Don't worry," I chuckled, "We accommodated a vehicle."

I hung up as the Doctor smacked a button on the roof. The lights flashed and the siren started going off. He was smiling his head off as he watched the road.

"What happens now, Holly?" he asked.

"Amy and Rory get to the right floor and it's empty. Then they meet the multi-form disguised as a woman with two little girls," I informed him. "They block it outside their room and we should be receiving a call soon."

Sure enough, after we drove another mile, the phone went off. I flipped it open.

"Are you there?" I asked.

"Yeah, but so is Prisoner Zero." Amy said.

"You're talking to a woman and two children right now," I recited, "_They _are Prisoner Zero. Run Amy!"

I heard a yelp of surprise from either Amy or Rory and then there was running. I heard the sounds of loud feet on the other end of the line. The Doctor sped down the road. I heard a door slam shut. Amy was gasping for breath.

"Which window are you near?" I demanded.

"Uh, first four on the left, four from the end." she said, "Hurry!"

I relayed the information to the Doctor and he slammed on the gas.

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	13. Yay Food and, Oh Great, More Guns

**I bet y'all thought I'd forgotten about you. Well I didn't. And look! I wrote I bunch, aren't you proud?**

There was a snapping sound on the other end of the call and a growling sound.

"What's happening Holly?" the Doctor asked.

"Prisoner Zero is in the room," I muttered. "She's going to jabber on and then try to hurt Amy! Who, regrettably, hung up on me just now." I pulled the phone back from my ear.

"Then text her," The Doctor commanded as we swerved towards the hospital, "Tell her to duck, now!"

I did as commanded and the Doctor ran the fire truck's ladder into the hospital window. We jumped out and he started climbing up to the window. I followed easily and he slipped into the room. I stayed on the ladder because they were all crowding around the window.

"Right then, hello, am I late?" he asked Amy and looked up at the clock, "No, few minutes to go. There's still time. And come in Holly," he lifted me from the ladder and set me on my feet.

"Time for what, _Time Lord_?" Prisoner Zero smirked.

"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat," the Doctor replied good-naturedly. "Nobody dies."

"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire," Prisoner Zero answered.

"Okay," the Doctor chuckled, "You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time, so do it again. Just leave."

"I did not open the crack," Prisoner Zero responded.

"Well somebody did."

"The cracks in the skin of the universe, don't you know where they came from?" Prisoner Zero asked. The Doctor looked away and she, or it, raised her, or its, eyebrows. "You don't, do you?" her voice became childish, "The Doctor in the Tardis doesn't know; doesn't know doesn't know. The universe is cracked, the Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

I rubbed my neck uncomfortably at the subject and the Doctor noticed the movement.

"We are going to have a talk," he informed me, "But now, we're off," he smiled to Prisoner Zero and pointed at the clock on the wall, "Look at that!"

He dropped his hand and I could tell he was going to have another "explain everything" moment.

"Yeah I know, just a clock, whatever, but you know what's happening? Right now, in a little bedroom my team is working. Jeff and the world; know what they're doing?" he didn't wait, "They're spreading the word, all over the world quantum fast. The word is out. The word is _Zero_.

"Now me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship monitoring all Earth communication, I'd probably take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet I'd be able to track a little simple old computer virus to its source in what, under a minute?" he held out his hand and I gave him Rory's phone, which he held up to Prisoner Zero, "The source, by the way, is right here."

Suddenly a huge light appeared in the windows.

"Oh and I think they just found it!" the Doctor announced happily.

"The Atraxi are limited. While I'm still in this form they will be unable to detect me. They've tracked a _phone_." Prisoner Zero added.

"But _yeah_, this is the good bit. This is my favorite bit," he smiled at me, "Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take. Right here, oh, and being uploaded right about _now_.

"And that with no Tardis, no screwdriver, and two minutes to spare. Who da man?" he paused after his last statement and looked at me, as I had just face palmed, "Right, I am never saying that again, ever."

"Then I shall take a new form," Zero said finally.

"Oh stop it, you know you can't. Takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

"And I've had years."

"Crap," I muttered and dove at Amy the second before she collapsed. I caught her and set her down gently. "Amy, come one, girl. Wake up Amy, no sleeping! Wake up!"

The Doctor was at my side as I continued speaking.

"Come on, Amy, wakey wakey." I pleaded.

"Uh, Doctor," Rory tapped the Doctor and we both looked at Prisoner Zero. It looked like me.

"_What?_" I exclaimed. I looked "myself" over, "Rubbish. Is that what I really look like?"

"You don't know?" Rory asked.

"'Course I do," I responded as the Doctor got to his feet, "But _seriously_. I look like _that_!"

Sure enough, it was me standing silently were the woman and girls had been moments ago. It was exactly accurate, down to the worn out jeans and button down shirt with a jacket.

I stood up beside the Doctor. He was looking Prisoner Zero over, and then looking at me, and then Amy.

"Why Holly?" he said finally, "You're linked with Amy, but why are you copying Holly?"

"I'm not," I heard the little Scottish voice and Amelia walked out from behind the other me. "We're Amy Pond, still such a child inside. Dreaming of her friend who she knows will come to save her." She looked smugly at me, "What a disappointment you've been."

"No," I said before the Doctor, "She's dreaming about me, because, and I know this for a fact, she heard me."

I dropped beside Amy again and recited most of what the Doctor said in the episode.

"Amy, don't just hear this, listen." I ordered as I held her face up, "Remember the room in your house. The one you couldn't remember. Remember how you went in even though the Doctor said not to. Remember what you saw. Dream about that, I know you can."

"No," Prisoner Zero spoke, "No! No!"

Its shape started to change again. The form of me and Amelia changed and became a copy of Prisoner Zero's original form. The weird, snake-like form with huge teeth and constantly hissing.

"Well done Holly," the Doctor patted my shoulder, "And well done Prisoner Zero, the perfect impression of yourself."

It hissed and tried to attack the Doctor, but the Atraxi light shot in the window and it flailed and, before disappearing, spoke: _Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall._

The Doctor ran over and stuck his head out the window. He nodded to himself and started dialing on the phone. Amy woke up and Rory was rambling on to her, as normal. The Doctor walked passed me, still typing on Rory's phone.

"What are you doing?" Rory looked bewildered at the Doctor.

"Tracking the signal back. Sorry, in advance." He responded.

"About what?"

"The bill," the Doctor muttered and put the phone to his ear. "Oi! I didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established Level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? Did you think no one was watching? You lot, back here, _now_." And he hung up on them. He tossed the phone back to Rory, "Okay. Now I've done it."

The Doctor walked out the door to the hallway as Rory started freaking out. I followed quickly, with Amy right behind me. He threw the doors open and walked purposefully down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked.

"The roof," he answered, then paused, "No, hang on."

He opened a door in the hallway and walked in. It was full of a variety of clothes. He started grabbing random shirts and throwing things over his shoulder.

"What's in here?" Amy questioned, ducking under the clothes he threw behind him.

"I'm saving the world," he announced as he dug through the lockers, "I need a decent shirt. To hell, with the raggedy. Time to put on a show."

"You just summoned the aliens back to Earth," Rory repeated, "Actual aliens, deadly aliens. Aliens, of death. And now you're taking your clothes off. Amy he's taking his clothes off."

Rory looked confused as the Doctor yanked off his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt. Amy, however, was quite focused.

"Well, turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor replied.

I leaned against the wall and looked back and forth between the Doctor and Rory's reactions. Rory finally turned around, but of course Amy didn't. Rory turned to me as he realized I wasn't looking away either.

"Are you not going to turn your back either?" he asked.

"Nope." I responded, "And actually, I knew he was going to do this."

Rory's eyes widened, but then he gave up on knowing what I meant. I watched until the Doctor had finally accumulated the "decent shirt" he wanted and he had about five ties draped around his neck. Then he stormed out of the room and off to the roof. He put on the suspenders after he opened the door. And we all looked up at the huge Atraxi ship.

"So this was a good idea, was it? They were leaving!" Amy shouted above the noise of the ship.

"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better." The Doctor said as he watched the giant eye. "Come on then! The Doctor will see you now!"

The eye stretched down from the star shaped ship and studied him. It scanned him and he just stood there.

"You are not of this world," it decided in a powerful voice.

"No, but I put a lot of work into it," the Doctor muttered and messed with one tie, "What do you think?"

"Is this world important?"

"Important, what does that mean? _Important_." The Doctor repeated and threw a tie at Rory, "6 billion people live here, is that important? Here's a better question, is this world a threat to the Atraxi? Come on, you're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?"

The ship showed a screen of all the armies on Earth and all the horrible people and things, "No," it decided.

"Are the people guilty of any crimes of the laws of the Atraxi?" the Doctor asked also, throwing more discarded ties behind him.

"No."

"Okay," he smiled, "One more, just one. Is this world protected?" he fixed his new bowtie, "There have been so many. You've got to ask yourself. What happened to them?"

The screen displayed all sorts of aliens: Cybermen, Daleks, even the Hath. Then it started flipping through pictures of the Doctor, every one of his regenerations. I flinched involuntarily when it showed his previous form. Then he walked through the screen and said his basic introduction.

"Hello," he smiled, "I'm the Doctor. Basically, run."

It didn't pause another second. The Atraxi eye zipped back to the ship and it started spinning. Quickly, as if with all its power, it flew off in a blast of air. Amy laughed in happiness, and probably shock. I ran over and hugged the Doctor. He smiled and put his arms around me to hug back.

I flinched back as something in his pocket burned me. I reached in his coat, to his clear surprise, and pulled out the Tardis key. I dropped it in his hand and waved mine to cool off the skin.

I smiled knowingly at him as the key cooled off. Then I snatched it from his outstretched hand and bolted for the door to the building. He laughed behind me and followed, probably ignoring Amy's comment like I was.

I dashed out of the building and ran past the fire truck. I ran across the grass and headed straight for Amy's house. I heard the Doctor behind me when I reached her backyard. I wasn't even out of breath as I stopped in front of the big blue box. The Doctor stopped beside me and smiled excitedly. I gave him the key and he unlocked the door.

"Look at you," he muttered to the Tardis, "Oh you sexy thing. Look at you."

I rolled my eyes and he put his arm around me.

"No need to be a little jealous, Holly," he informed me. Then he kissed my forehead, to which I blushed, and said, "By the way, you were brilliant back there. Would you like to be the first to drive her?"

He motioned for me to the brand new controls, but I could see the light in his eye.

"No," I playfully shoved him towards the console, "You're dying to, and I can see that clearly."

He pulled me up to the console beside him as he pressed a few buttons. "Let's take a quick trip somewhere. Where would you like to go?"

"Somewhere with food," I put a hand to my stomach as it started to make noises.

"Good idea, how about somewhere in America then? I hear you have quite the selection in "fast-food" places." he offered.

"That'll work. Do you know of any?" I questioned with a sly smile.

"Well," the Doctor frowned in thought, "No, actually I don't. Which one do you want to go to? I'm going to need to know where we're landing."

"How about," I paused in thought, "Texas Roadhouse."

"There is a restaurant called Texas Roadhouse?" the Doctor looked amused.

"Hey, don't hate it," I grumbled.

"No, of course I won't," he shook his head, "So where is this restaurant? Texas?"

"Maybe, but actually, I stopped in at one in a place in Iowa once." I described.

I explained to him where one is in a place I had eaten before. He found a nice little space nearby to park and set the Tardis down. He sighed happily because she was actually flying pretty smoothly, only a few bumps. He dug in his pockets after landing.

"I'm sure I had American currency somewhere," he mumbled.

I laughed and pulled a few tens from my pocket. I waved them in his face.

"I've got it covered. Always sneaked a few dollars from _him_ whenever I had the chance," I explained.

"Wonderful. Let's go," he waved a hand towards the door.

I led the way out of the Tardis and looked around. He had landed perfectly and the sun was setting. I smiled at him.

"You landed pretty well this time, Doctor."

"Of course I did," he retorted with a smile.

The parking lot was pretty full; only to be expected, and there was a ten minute wait time inside. The young girl working told me our number and I went into the little waiting area to make room for other people. It wasn't too crowded so I sat on the bench. The Doctor stood against the wall beside me. He was staring at the barrel full of peanuts in the center of the room.

"Why is that there?" he asked as an elderly woman grabbed a handful for the little girl beside her.

"Because it's their thing here, peanuts," I explained and grabbed a few.

I cracked the shells and popped a few in my mouth. I offered the Doctor one, but he declined. I shrugged and dumped the shells on the ground, which was scattered with shells. The child, a little blonde girl in coveralls, ran passed me giggling. She tripped in front of me, but I managed to catch her before she fell. I set her back on her feet and she tromped off again. The old woman smiled appreciatively at me.

"She's my granddaughter," the woman told me proudly, "She just had her birthday party yesterday. Isn't that right, Abigail?"

The little girl nodded enthusiastically and held up four fingers, "I'm four. What's your name?"

"I'm Holly," I smiled. "Did you have a good party?"

"Yeah, I got a Barbie and dress and a big cake," she said happily. "And Gramma is taking me to the Barbie movie today after dinner. And Grandpa got me a pink bike with training wheels. Can you ride a bike?"

"Yep," I smiled at her enthusiasm.

Abigail turned to the Doctor and looked up at him, "Can you ride a bike?"

The Doctor glanced at me and then looked down at the girl. "Um, yes?"

Abigail smiled, and then got distracted by the screen showing people's numbers to go eat.

"Look, Gramma, our number!" she bounced up and down as her grandmother slowly got to her feet.

"It was nice talking to you, Holly," the woman said and I nodded.

They walked out of the room to get their table and the Doctor sat beside me. His eyes followed Abigail out and then turned back to me.

"She was energetic," he commented.

"That's normal," I sighed, "Kids are wonderful at that age, always happy and easily pleased."

The Doctor observed me for a moment.

"You want kids," he stated.

"Yeah, but Mark didn't. And I can't imagine they would have been safe with him, so I guess it's good we never had any," I smiled sadly. "I always thought that if I ever divorced him, the first thing I would do was adopt."

The Doctor was about to say something when our number flashed on the screen. We stood up and went out. A teenage boy, probably about seventeen, led us to a booth and handed us menus.

"My name's Jordan. I'll be your server today. Can I start you out with drinks?" he asked.

"Water," I answered.

"Water, as well," the Doctor responded.

"I'll get right on that," Jordan confirmed and walked off.

"This is a nice place," the Doctor commented, looking around.

"It is," I agreed and looked at the menu. "Are you going to order anything?"

"Of course. I have to stay human, don't I," the Doctor's eyes sparkled in his amusement.

Music played overhead while we studied the menus. Jordan brought out our waters and rolls before giving a few minutes to decide. When he came back, I got a grilled chicken salad and the Doctor ordered ribs. When Jordan went off again, the song ended and another tune came on.

"So you like ribs?" I asked the Doctor in surprise.

"I've never had them before," he admitted, "But it's worth a shot."

I finished off a roll while I listened to the Doctor describe a part to the Tardis he was thinking of adding.

"Make sense?" he asked after his explanation.

"The only part I understood was "_I'm thinking of"_, and then you lost me. But it sounded smart, so I bet it made sense," I commented.

He chuckled. A new song started playing and I recognized it. I involuntarily mouthed the words out of habit.

"You know this song?" the Doctor said and I nodded, "I can't hear you."

"I can't sing," I responded.

"Prove it," he said.

"Not in public, _ever_."

"How about just a little?" he suggested.

"No."

"Please? For me?"

"Nope."

I ignored his pout and stopped singing. Jordan walked over with a tray. He set our foods in front of us, refilled my water, and walked away. I picked up a fork and dug into my salad, thankful for it filling my stomach after so long without food. The Doctor was poking his meal in an unsure manner. I rolled my eyes.

"It isn't going to move, Doctor. Just pick it up." He followed my instruction. "Now eat, but don't eat the bone." He did as I told and smiled in surprise.

"This is good."

"Yep," I answered and continued eating.

"Why did you pick a salad over this, then?" he wondered.

"Just because," I said vaguely, listening to the music for a specific song.

It soon started. The waiters all gathered in the strip of walking space near the front as the Cotton-Eyed Joe song played loudly. The Doctor stopped mid-sentence and followed my gaze to the line dance. Jordan joined the group quickly and the dozen members simultaneously completed the dance along with the song.

When they'd all finished, everyone cheered. I smiled and clapped along with them. Then I turned back to the Doctor. He was smiling despite himself.

"I love America," he decided.

"That's good. We're the best," I said cheerfully, "Although, as far as accents go, the British got us beat." I admitted.

"You still love accents, huh?" the Doctor chuckled.

"Yes, and there is nothing wrong with that."

"I suppose."

"I have a question," I said, stopping smiling.

"I have an answer," the Doctor responded.

"Did the Time Lords have accents?"

The Doctor didn't answer. He stared at his platter of ribs instead. I'd hit a nerve.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"It's fine," the Doctor whispered back.

He took a bite of his meal and was soon back to his old self again. "So after we're done here, what do you say we go on one more adventure? Then we can ask Amy to join us."

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed.

"Now about what happened at the hospital? Prisoner Zero said "The universe is cracked, the Pandorica will open. Silence will fall." What did that mean?"

"Spoilers," I murmured. "Sorry, you really can't know."

"I assume I won't be able to coax any information out of you, then? None at all?" he asked.

"Nope, my lips are sealed about it," I pretend zipped my lips.

We finished twenty minutes later. I paid and we went back to the Tardis. I lounged against the console while the Doctor jabbered on about something technical. I twirled a strand of hair between my fingers while he fiddled with the controls.

"Where do you think we should go, Holly? Any ideas?" the Doctor asked.

"No, somewhere cool, though, somewhere really cool."

"Hmm, really cool," the Doctor thought it over.

He leaned his head on his hand while standing next to me. He studied me and then glanced at the Tardis screen.

"I know!" the Doctor exclaimed so suddenly that I jumped. "There's this planet I went to once. Huge planet, full of surprises, of course," he paused, "I owe the queen some money, but she's probably forgotten that by now. Anyway, it's a few systems over, planet called Anoraleece Trolip. Indigenous species is sort of similar to the human, besides a few little points. I'll bet you'd like this planet."

"What few little points are different from humans?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," the Doctor messed with a few keys and buttons. "They're supposedly all extremely beautiful and have first degree telepathy, that's all."

"That's all," I repeated, "They have telepathic powers and are gorgeous, but _that's all_?"

"Didn't I say that?" the Doctor looked confused.

"How are those "a few little points"? And why do you owe the queen money? What did you do this time?"

"This time? You say that like I make mistakes often," the Doctor grumbled.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so maybe my trouble-making occurs a _bit_ too often. As for the queen, her daughter kind of fancied me and refused to marry some other rich guy, yada yada, thus cheating her family out of some big fortune, yada yada, now the queen says I owe her the money they didn't receive, blah blah. Five hundred thousand troks; which is equal to about five million dollars. It wasn't _intentional_ on my part!"

I sighed and shook my head, "Unbelievable. So are we going or not?"

"Of course we are. What did you think I was doing just now, pressing random buttons for fun?"

"Yes."

The Doctor chuckled and pressed a blue button. "Geronimo."

The Tardis shook violently and I stumbled back to cling to the railing. The Doctor laughed while yanking a lever level. The Doctor danced around the console to mess with buttons on that side.

"Holly, hit the Zigzag Plotter!"

I dove forward and grabbed the familiar instrument. The Tardis shaking became slightly less. I sat back in a chair as she stopped quaking. The Doctor rubbed his hands together.

"Now let's see where we are." he decided and pulled a screen down. He studied it and nodded, "I've arrived after the last mishap. So let's just make a point of avoiding contact with the royal family."

"Great, so where did we land?" I asked and looked at the screen.

"Right in the middle of…the Royal Garden," the Doctor's shoulders slumped, "Well that's just great. Let's go before they find us."

He slipped around the console towards the door.

"Can't we put the Tardis on invisible so none of the gardeners or guards recognizes her?" I asked and the Doctor spun back around.

"You are absolutely right." The Doctor agreed, "Press that blue button and then pull the lever over there twice."

I ignored this instruction, knowing this was the opposite of what he wanted to do because I watched the episode. I did what River had done instead. The Doctor stepped forward to tell me I was wrong when the lights dimmed.

"Well I guess that worked. Probably just luck," he murmured. "Let's go."

"Am I underdressed?" I motioned to my outfit.

"No, now let's go before someone comes by. I will not be able to explain why we appeared out of thin air." The Doctor opened the door.

We stepped out, right into a circle of men and women with guns pointed at us.

"Oh, this is not good," The Doctor mumbled.

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	14. Prisoners

**Hello again! I wrote more! Enjoy!**

_We stepped out, right into a circle of men and women with guns pointed at us._

"_Oh, this is not good," The Doctor mumbled._

There was an awkward silence.

"Um, hello, everyone," the Doctor greeted awkwardly. "Well, I'm back."

None of the expressions changed. The group still stood stoically aiming their guns at The Doctor and me. I glanced at them each in turn.

The Doctor was right. They all looked pretty human, but were all unnaturally gorgeous. I turned my head and saw that the people were in a complete circle around us and the invisible Tardis. The person closest to me, a man, had short dark brown hair. His eyes were luminescent green and he studied me as I studied him. He was handsome, and they all were, in their own ways. He stood about the same height as the Doctor.

The woman next to him was a platinum blonde with sparkling purple eyes who was about a foot shorter than him. She was watching me and the Doctor with an emotionless stare that kind of creeped me out.

Beyond our circle, it was like a maze of tall hedges. I immediately thought of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was like a labyrinth you could never escape.

There must have been a signal, because the group turned on their heels and watched one direction as two women made their ways toward us.

One woman was old, probably about 70 in Earth years. She had silvery short hair and golden yellow irises that I could easily see from the distance. She wore a long-sleeved golden silk-looking shirt and black skirt. The first thing I thought was that she reminded me of a bumblebee.

The other woman looked about my age. She had curly red hair and dark blue eyes. She had an empowered look on her face that made me hate her immediately. This girl wore a slim purple dress that trailed around her feet as she walked. The bodice was way too low cut in my opinion.

The women approached and some of the guards split apart so the two could enter the circle. The older woman looked composed as she examined us, but the younger girl was eyeing the Doctor with intent. I was pretty sure the old lady was queen and the younger was the one who "fancied" the Doctor.

"You've come back?" the old woman said, "Does this mean you have the money you lost us?"

"Yeah, about that," the Doctor rubbed his neck, "I have no idea how you expected me to get that money. I don't see why you expected it from me anyway. Also, I didn't mean to come back here. I was aiming to land on the other side of the planet."

"It's still good to see you, never-the-less, Doctor," the young girl smiled flirtatiously. It made me want to gag.

"I suppose," the elder said disdainfully, "You will get it to us. And who is this?" She looked at me.

"This is Holly, Your Majesty," the Doctor informed, not even glancing at the young girl watching him, "I travel with her. Holly, this is Her Majesty, Queen Tylina. And this is Princess Trenilia."

"Do either of you planning on staying?" the queen asked, and I didn't know whether she implied they stay or leave.

"I was hoping to show Holly this wonderful planet, if it was okay," the Doctor said humbly, "Would that be permitted?"

"Only if you stay with us during your time here. I don't want you getting into too much trouble," the old woman actually cracked a smile. "It is almost time for dinner. You will eat with us."

"Of course, Your Majesty," the Doctor nodded.

Queen Tylina turned and began walking back where she'd come from. Trenilia gracefully followed after giving the Doctor another look. The guards walked in straight lines on either side of me and the Doctor as we followed the women.

I stayed close to the Doctor's side and took his hand.

"So is she mad at you about the money?" I whispered. "Why did she offer for us to stay with them?"

"It wasn't an offer, it was a command," the Doctor explained under his breath, "It was pretty obvious she didn't want us leaving. As far as I can tell, we're prisoners now."

We walked through the maze of hedges until there was a break in the walls of plants. We continued past rows and rows of flowers of all sorts. I looked ahead and saw where we would be staying. I was reminded of the mansion on "The Unicorn and the Wasp", except this was much much much bigger and bright white.

"Take them to the spare rooms," Queen Tylina commanded coolly, "They had better not be wearing _those_ clothes when they come to dine."

We entered the huge mansion and the queen and princess went one way. One line of guards directed me up a staircase that I would've described as marble if that was a stone on this planet. I looked worriedly to the Doctor as he branched off from me at the top of the stairs.

"See you later, Holly," he called calmly, giving me a bit of confidence.

The girl guard, who I dubbed Blondie in my mind since I didn't know her name, was with me and the other half dozen guards. She led me to a doorway and into a large bedroom. The other guards stayed out in the hall. There were two girls cleaning up the room. They each couldn't have been over twenty.

"Her Majesty wants this girl dressed appropriately and made presentable to dine," Blondie ordered.

The two maids nodded silently and Blondie left. I was left standing on the fuzzy carpet for an awkward moment. One maid, a girl with light brown hair, walked off to a large wardrobe. The other, a dirty blonde came to me. She watched me with orange eyes.

"Hi," I greeted softly. "What's your name?"

"You will need to undress," she responded without looking me directly in the eye.

I, extremely uncomfortably and feeling a bit violated, stripped down to my undergarments. The brunette returned with clothes. I slipped into the light gown and then the blonde girl fitted a corset on me. I didn't make a sound in my discomfort. Then I was fitted in a light blue dress. The girls fixed any pieces of the dress that weren't perfect. It was fitted in the bodice and flowed down to my feet, inlaid with sparkling stones that glittered when I moved.

The brunette motioned for me to sit on a chair beside a table and mirror. I sat straight and she brought out a brush and other alien hair products.

"What's your name?" I asked her politely trying to start a conversation, "My name's Holly."

She didn't answer. She just ran the brush through my hair. The blonde brought out a makeup brush and I had to close my eyes. I felt the brunette braiding and twisting my hair while the blonde designed my face.

"You can open your eyes to put these on." There was a whisper of a voice.

I opened my eyes and the blonde was holding out pale blue shoes with an inch thick heel. I slipped them on my feet and stood up. The brunette silently motioned to the mirror and I looked at my reflection. I widened my eyes in surprise. They'd made me look beautiful. My hair was braided and pulled back from my face. They'd added color to my normally pale skin and swept in light blue eye shadow that emphasized my eyes.

"Wow," I whispered.

Then there was a sharp knock on the door and Blondie came back in. She looked me over to make sure I was acceptable. With a nod of approval, she walked out. The blonde pushed my arm gently to make me walk towards the door. I glanced back to the maids, but they had distracted themselves with cleaning again.

I left the bedroom and met a few guards in the hall. It was Blondie, and the male guard whom I'd studied out in the garden. I followed them nervously down the stairs, silently praying I didn't trip over my own feet.

We came to a tall bright door. The male guard opened the doors but didn't enter. Blondie walked in, but stepped off to the wall. I stepped in too. I was facing a long table. At the head was Queen Tylina and to her right was Trenilia. The Doctor was sitting across from the princess.

They all looked up when I entered, all with different expressions. Trenilia had a sneer, only barely masked by a thin layer of composure. The Doctor had wide eyes. The Queen was emotionless as she gestured for me to sit beside the Doctor. He was wearing a black suit and, obviously, a bowtie.

I sat down on the cushioned chair and looked at the spread laid out before us. It was hand sewn, I guessed. The plates were beautifully crafted and the silver shone.

"You look great," the Doctor murmured to me.

"Thanks, I see they couldn't rid you of the bowtie," I smiled and whispered back.

"Bowties are cool. How do I look?"

"Great."

"So, Doctor," the queen looked at him expectantly, "When do you plan on repaying me the five hundred thousand troks? You are going to repay it, right?"

"I honestly don't have any clue where to get the money," the Doctor said honestly, "I don't know where I would get half of it."

"Well, then it looks like you will be staying with us for a while," the queen decided and clapped her hands, "We are ready for the meal."

Unsettled by her decision, I just stared at my hands in my lap as servant brought out all sorts of fancy foods. I was first served a soup. I dipped my spoon in the liquid and stirred it around. The Doctor nudged my arm when I wasn't eating. I glanced up at him. He mimed drinking the soup and motioned to the princess. Trenilia was drinking the soup like this as if it was the most proper thing to do, which on this planet, it must be.

The Doctor lifted his own bowl and drank it quickly. I followed suit and found the strange taste to my liking. It wasn't anything similar to Earth soup.

The next platter set before me was a meat of some sort. I cut off a piece and ate it cautiously. I peered at the Doctor as he ate quickly, finishing his meat in minutes. I wondered if there was a reason for him eating so quickly, or if was habit. He had eaten at a normal pace and the Texas Roadhouse.

When the meal was finished, servants dressed in green took up the dishes. Queen Tylina dismissed us to leave and the Doctor stood. I got up and followed him out. He stood at the bottom of the staircase. He turned to me and whispered quickly in my ear.

"If you get the chance, get back to the Tardis tonight, understood? Just stay in the Tardis and if I don't show up…" he paused and slipped the Tardis key into my hand, "She'll take you home after a little while. It's in her programming."

I nodded silently. It scared me that he was assuming he didn't get out of here. I gripped the key tightly.

"Wonderful." He smiled, clearly faking it, "Some adventure, huh?"

"Yeah," I chuckled half-heartedly, "Some adventure."

Then Blondie and my other guard interrupted us.

"You are going with Viktor," Blondie informed me stiffly. "The Queen says you are to go to your room and not leave until morning. Doctor, the same to you."

"See you in the morning, Holly," The Doctor hugged me and walked off up the stairs.

I watched him get distracted by the frame design of a picture in the hall. He was studying it as I passed to go to my own room following Viktor. The Doctor glanced at me from his spot in front of the picture. His serious gaze said he wasn't actually there to study the picture. He nodded to get me the message and I nodded back. I would try to escape tonight.

Viktor waited outside my door when I entered my bedroom. The two maids were there again, and probably had been there the whole time. The brunette pulled out a night-gown from the wardrobe and they redressed me. The blonde scrubbed the make-up from my face and the brunette undid my hair. Then they fixed my bed and left. I glimpsed Viktor still standing by the door.

I really was a prisoner. How was I going to escape with a guard?

I sat on the bed and examined the room. It was a big room, the table and mirror on one wall and the huge wardrobe on the other. The wall across my bed had a large window looking out on the gardens. The wall my bed was on had another door. I peered in and saw a large bathroom. There was a bath tub, ten times the average size, a toilet and a sink in the glossy counter with a mirror.

I left the bathroom and looked out the window. The gardens started directly below the window, one story down. I even recognized the path that we'd taken to get here. There was a figure standing on one path holding a gun, passing. They must be guarding the Tardis.

"Well isn't that just great," I muttered. "There is no way out!"

I sighed loudly and stalked in a circle. I glanced at my reflection. My skin seemed healthier than it did, and the bruises were gone. So that one good thing came out of this. I turned from the mirror again and sat on the bed.

I wondered where the Doctor was. He did not sound confident when telling me to get out. Did he expect to stay here? But if he bothered to tell me, then there must be a way out. How does the girl usually escape the tower she's trapped in? Out the window. I flitted back to the window. Turning the heavy brass, or some metal, latch, I pushed the glass open. The curtains were actually one long cloth, draped over a long golden rod above the window. I stretched up to it, but was too short.

I dragged the chair as carefully as I could over to the window and balanced on it. I was just able to lift the rod and get it down. I set the rod on the bed and stretched out the curtain. Glancing down to the ground outside my window, I determined that it was slightly too short. I'd have to freefall a little ways. I carefully placed the rod back in place and studied the curtain.

I tied it to the bedpost when it dawned on me that the gown I was wearing would not assist my escape in any way. I searched the wardrobe for something more appropriate. I found a silky black long-sleeve shirt and slim black pants. I found black slip-ons too. I changed quickly and stuck the key in my new pocket. Then I pulled my hair up in a ponytail.

I yanked on the curtain to make sure the knot was stable. Then I was about to throw the curtain out when there was a knock on my door. I cursed in my mind. I undid the knot and draped the curtain back in place. The knock sounded again. I quickly went to the door.

I opened the door a crack and peered out. It was Viktor.

"Hello?" I asked, keeping my voice even. "What do you want?"

"I'm to inform you that if you are in need of anything, you are to ask me," Viktor informed.

"Way to be all formal," I muttered, then louder, "Okay good to know. Good bye."

I went to shut the door but he held it open.

"If there is _anything_ you need," he repeated. "Water, food, a stun gun, one of the maids."

I opened my mouth to answer, but then comprehended all he had said.

"A _stun gun_?" I repeated in quiet alarm.

"To, let's say, get rid of a guard so you can get to your time machine," he said calmly.

"Wait, are you on my side?" I asked.

"So to speak, I might be," he said quietly.

I examined his green eyes for any sign of lying, but either he was telling the truth, or a really good actor.

"But why?" I asked through the crack in the door. I didn't dare let him see I'd changed in case he was lying.

"Because I don't believe keeping you here is right." Viktor responded almost silently, in case another guard showed up.

"You'd help me escape?" I asked with wide eyes.

"I can help a little. For instance, there is a window below your room. I would not suggest climbing down, or someone may see you."

"Good to know," I mumbled.

"You're best chance at getting out is through the window of a room down the hall. It doesn't have windows below it," Viktor suggested.

"How do I know I can trust you," I asked suspiciously.

"What will it take?" he asked.

I paused to think. "Go get the Doctor."

"Sadly, I can't. Juniper is guarding him and she is all in for the Queen imprisoning you both," Viktor said grimly.

"Who?" I frowned as I heard the unfamiliar name.

"The blonde female who was with us," Viktor said slowly, waiting for recognition.

"Oh, that one," I remembered. So Blondie's name was Juniper. "So there's no way to, I don't know, distract her so you can get the Doctor?"

"Juniper is trained never to leave the post, no matter what I say." Viktor admitted, "But you have to trust I want to help you."

"And the Doctor?"

"If that's what it takes. If you don't get out soon, you'll be stuck here until," Viktor didn't continue. "Just change into something more reliable for escape and stay quiet. Okay?"

"I still don't trust you," I said slowly.

"Then don't. Just stay quiet and the room you can escape from is down the hall. You go straight left for five doors and the sixth door should be painted green. That door is an empty room. The window leads into the Royal Gardens. You'll have to find your time machine on your own from there, but I'll see what I can do. I can't do anything for the Doctor, though. I'm sorry."

"But I can't go without him!" My voice escalated and Viktor clamped his hand over my mouth.

"You have to get out before it's too late. Just," he reached to his belt and removed a small black shape. "If any one of the guards near your time machine see you, press this and point it at them."

Viktor showed me the stun gun and I slipped my hand out to retrieve it. I slipped it in my pocket.

"You need to get out soon. If you're caught, not only will you get taken back here, you'll get a different guard. I'll probably be prisoner for treason, or killed. You may end up with a guard who doesn't believe as I do. Just don't get caught. Understood?"

"I guess," I spoke, unsure of why he would risk his life to get me out.

Viktor froze and clicked the door shut as I heard footsteps. I held my breath and pressed an ear to the door to listen. The footsteps got louder and stopped outside.

"Have you had any trouble with the girl?" I heard Blondie, no, Juniper, ask.

"No, but shouldn't you be guarding the Doctor?" Viktor asked, "Her Majesty would be upset to know you deserted your post."

"I'm having another guard replace me so I can check on you."

"I don't need to be baby-sat," Viktor responded, half muttered.

"Clearly you do if that is how you respond to your superiors," Juniper said stiffly. "Maybe I should tell Her Majesty that you are unfit to guard the prisoner."

"There is no need for that, Juniper," Viktor responded coolly.

"Then open the door so I can check on the girl," Juniper commanded and I jumped back from the door.

I looked around quickly and dashed into the bathroom. I shut the door and leaned against the wall. I heard the bedroom door open and Juniper walked in.

"Where is she?" Juniper asked coldly.

"I'm in here," I called. "This is a really shiny bathroom."

I could almost hear Juniper roll her eyes as she left in a huff. The door shut and I came out of the bathroom. I peered out the bedroom door again and Viktor glanced at me.

"She won't come back for at least an hour now. This is your chance," he whispered.

He pushed the door open a crack more and I slipped out. He shut the door and looked me over.

"You were prepared for this," he commented quietly. "Remember, sixth door, it's green."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Just don't get caught. That will be thanks enough."

I slipped silently down the hallway, silently pleading to blend in and stay invisible. I carefully crept down passed five colorful doors. Then I reached one that, even in the dark, I saw was green. I gently nudged the door open. It was black inside. I was too afraid to turn the light on, so I snuck in using the light coming from the window.

I carefully unlatched the window and swung it open. I glanced down the wall and saw that there was no window beneath mine. Viktor was truthful after all. There was a small brick-like ledge running along the length of the building. It was about as wide as my hand was long, but I would be able to balance on it. I crawled out the window and landed on the little surface. My head was still high enough to peek into the room.

I looked around outside. All the rooms within my vision were dark but the one on my other side and my original room six down. I slid along the strip of surface I had so I could get to the other lit room. I didn't hear anything from in the room.

I peeked in the room from the edge of the window. It looked similar to mine. On the bed, was the Doctor. I bit my lip to keep from exclaiming. He was sprawled on the sheets with his hands behind his head staring up at the ceiling. He didn't look happy, sad, angry, or anything, just passive and waiting.

I was going to call out, or get his attention, but then the door opened and I quickly ducked from the window. I pressed my ear to the wall in hopes of hearing who had entered.

"Hello, Doctor," a woman's voice. _Trenilia's_ voice.

I peered in the room an inch and saw her standing in the doorway. The Doctor sat up with his back to me.

"Hello, Trenilia," he greeted emotionlessly.

"Oh, you don't sound very happy, Doctor," she said with a hint of sadness. "You should be happy. Anoraleece Trolip is a wonderful place to be held captive. And I'm here with you."

"Should that be a reason for me to be happy?" the Doctor asked.

"Silly Doctor," she laughed good-naturedly, "You don't understand how good this is for you. I can easily change my mother's mind about your punishments. Don't you see?" Trenilia stepped into the room and shut the door behind her.

She took a couple steps closer to the bed and he rolled off away from her fluidly. I did not like the look in her eye. The Doctor was backing away from her too. His back was still to me. Trenilia walked around the bed.

"I can help you, Doctor," she soothed, "My mother wants to sell you for ransom. I can change her mind. You could instead stay here, with me."

"I think I'll pass," the Doctor responded, keeping his distance from her. "I have to leave. Places to go, things to see. I have to show Holly the universe."

"Oh, you don't need to do anything for that girl." Trenilia waved of the thought of me. "I can have her disposed of."

"No, I won't allow it," the Doctor's voice hardened.

"Oh, but you don't have a choice." Trenilia purred. "You can stay here and be with me, or get shipped off to the highest bidder."

The Doctor slipped away again and I saw his face and Trenilia's back was to me.

"I think I'd rather take the highest bidder," the Doctor said.

Trenilia shook her head slowly. She stepped again and the Doctor was backed against the wall.

"Why do you even have the Earth girl anyway?" Trenilia pondered. "She isn't even very pretty."

The princess was beginning to irritate me. I wasn't even technically here and she was taking blows at my image.

"You're wrong, Trenilia." The Doctor answered.

"Of course I'm not, Doctor. Why do you have her? Is she like a pet? Something to keep you entertained when you aren't running from aliens trying to kill you?"

"No," the Doctor spoke through his teeth. I saw his eyes narrow. "Why are you so concerned about her? Do you think she is competition?"

"Is she, Doctor? Should I be worried about that?" Trenilia asked calmly. Even I strained to hear his response to this. Was I honestly Trenilia's competition for the Doctor? Then the Doctor responded.

"Competition would be implying I would ever choose to be with you, which is clear to everyone but you, that I wouldn't ever choose to be with you."

"So you like the human?" Trenilia asked.

"Yes, she's a fantastic person. If I didn't like her I would've never asked her to be my companion. I'd be _mad_ not to like Holly."

"But do you love her?" Trenilia tilted her head somewhat innocently. "Do you _love_ that girl, Doctor?"

**Oh...cliffhanger...**  
**Review please!**


	15. Love and Pain

**I finally added more. And if you get mad at how I chose to make the story end out, then stop reading it! Enjoy :) or not, but I'd rather you enjoy it because then you didn't just waste your time.**

"_Do you love her?" Trenilia tilted her head somewhat innocently. "Do you love that girl, Doctor?"_

There was a silence. The question had caught him off guard. Then the Doctor answered.

"Yes."

My heart stopped. He loved me. The Doctor loved me.

Trenilia paused for a moment. "Well, then I guess there is only one thing I can do."

"Let us both go from the generosity of your heart?" The Doctor said hopefully.

"No, the human will be disposed of."

I didn't hear further because I was sliding quickly along the surface I'd balanced on. It was actually easy to get back to my window. I was balanced just above the window below my floor within a few minutes. I gripped the window sill and slid in. My instincts screamed at me that I should have dropped from the window and bolted for the Tardis, but my reason explained that would have put the Doctor in more danger.

I changed back into my gown as I heard Trenilia speaking to Viktor. He would have no choice but to let her in, thinking I was gone. I slid the stun gun and key into a pocket in the gown, threw the black clothes under the bed, and jumped onto the bed.

The door opened and Trenilia came in with Blondie, Juniper, standing in the hall. I sat up and pretended to have just woken up. I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

"It's a little late for visits, isn't it?" I asked, though I knew why they were here.

"You are coming with me," Trenilia said coldly.

"Am I sleeping somewhere else?" I hoped they took my confusion as real.

"In a certain sense," Trenilia smiled and I shivered involuntarily.

I climbed out of bed. Trenilia motioned for me to exit the room, so I did. Viktor looked utterly confused when I glanced at him. Then he became stoic again. There was nothing he could do now. Trenilia came out and started down the hall. I followed her as we went the opposite way of the stairs.

"Bring out the Doctor, Juniper," Trenilia ordered as we passed his room.

Juniper entered his room and came out a second later with the Doctor. He looked downright miserable. He looked at me, then Trenilia, and then looked away at the floor. I tried to look confused. I slipped my hand into the Doctor's slightly larger hand and he looked up from the floor. He squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"It's okay, Holly," he whispered.

It wasn't very light in the hall, but we both saw Trenilia tense up and start walking away. The Doctor started walking after her and I stayed by his side with his hand in mine. I didn't have to act anymore; I was worried and confused about our destination.

"Where are we going?" I asked the Doctor.

"We'll find out in a second, I believe," he murmured as we reached a large door.

Trenilia snapped her fingers and the door drifted open, letting out a flood of bright light. We walked in and I looked around. I didn't know what to make of it. It was a huge room of white tile. There were screens showing the Royal Gardens along the wall and a control panel. The screens showed the garden really bright, as if there were strategic lights all over the garden. I looked back where we'd come from and saw the door shutting behind us.

"Where are we, Trenilia? I wasn't shown this room during my last tour," the Doctor studied the room.

"That's because we know how you abhor violence," she answered stiffly. "But now it doesn't matter."

"Violence? What does this little computer room have to do with violence?" the Doctor sounded worried, yet still slightly curious, as was his nature.

"The girl will go through that door now," Trenilia motioned towards the wall as she spoke to the Doctor. I saw a door suddenly slide open.

I glanced up at the Doctor. He was looking at the door. Then he glanced at the screens. He looked a little more worried now.

"Go through the doorway," Trenilia ordered harshly, not happy to have to address me herself.

I released the Doctor's hand went towards the door, keeping my eyes trained on Trenilia. I glanced out the doorway. It was leading outside into the Royal Gardens.

"Wait, first," Trenilia motioned to Juniper.

The guard stepped over to me and jabbed a needle into my arm.

"Ow!" I tried to jerk back, but Juniper gripped my arm until she had withdrawn a syringe-full of my blood.

Then she shoved me out the door. I heard the Doctor exclaim and run forward, but the door shut quickly. I banged my hand on the door for a minute, and then gave up. I stepped back and looked around. Why did she stick me out here? How was this violence?

"I suggest you run, girl," I heard Trenilia speaking through what might have been a speaker in the wall. "This is where the violence begins. Don't worry though, the Doctor is watching."

I opened my mouth to ask what she meant when a smaller door opened in the wall. I heard growling. My eyes widened as I backed away from the wall. I started piecing things together. The screens were probably showing me right now. This was Trenilia's "violence". She set creatures on people and watched them die. She was going to make the Doctor watch me die.

The growling got louder and a small furry creature crawled into view. It was about the size of a raccoon, but had two striped tails, six legs, and light blue fur. It glared up at me with small beady eyes and snarled again, revealing sharp teeth. It took a threatening step towards me.

I turned and bolted into the Royal Gardens. There was an echo of barks as the raccoon creature started after me. I ran between hedges and tore down a long isle of plants. I dodged down another lane protected by the tall bushes. I hoped to outrun the raccoon creature enough to confuse it, but I guessed everyone tried that and didn't have much faith in my plan.

I swerved through the hedges and paused to catch my breath. I gasped in air and then held my breath to listen. I heard growls and barks, but they were faint.

"Don't gain any hope, girl," I heard Trenilia's loud voice coming from who-knows-where. "It is hunting by scent of your blood."

I swore in my head. That was the point of the needle Juniper had jabbed me with before I was put out here. I brushed my hair back from my sweating face and started running the opposite way of the growls. I ducked behind a tall pinkish tree to try and regain my full breathing. I couldn't keep running; I desperately needed a plan. The Doctor wouldn't be able to help me now.

I took a step back and hit my head on a sturdy, low branch. I swung my head around and glared at it, but then examined the tree. That hadn't been the only branch. I hefted myself up onto the branch and balanced against the tree trunk. I crawled onto the next lowest branch, and then the next, and then the next. I was soon able to see over the huge maze of hedges and look into the other isles of the garden a little bit. I saw the head of a guard. Maybe they had guards all over to stop me from escaping.

I crawled back down from the tree. I landed hard on the ground and winced. I rubbed my ankle before running again, a bit slower, towards the direction of the guard. Maybe Viktor wasn't the only good guard. If I could convince this one or another to help me, I didn't have a plan beyond that.

I heard the raccoon snarls again and didn't have to look behind me to know it was there. I kept running as I gasped for breath. I ducked around another corner, but wasn't fast enough. The raccoon jumped at me. It snagged my arm with its razor sharp claws as I turned the corner.

I stumbled as it threw off my balance and tumbled into the grass. I clutched my arm in pain as it landed and circled back to me again. I wiped my bloody hand in the grass. The raccoon jumped again and I rolled out of the way. Something hard pressed into my ribs and I ripped the stun gun out of my pocket.

I looked back and forth from the raccoon, to the weapon. Then the creature ran at me. I jabbed out blindly at it with the weapon and clicked a button. There was an electric vibration up my arm and an animalistic screech. I'd caught the raccoon in the neck and it collapsed on top of me. I shuddered as its claws poked me through my gown. I shoved it off of me and sat up. I cradled my bleeding arm. I was not anywhere near being a doctor, but I was pretty sure I'd been clawed in a pretty bad spot, if the blood was anything to go by. And the pain was horrid. The claws had ripped the sleeve of the gown in half, so it was now a one-shouldered gown, held on by the other sleeve.

I clenched my teeth as I stood up. I poked the raccoon with my foot and rolled it over. It was still breathing, but unconscious for who knows how long. I zapped it with the stun gun once more to be sure. Then, walking slow so I wouldn't jolt my arm too much, I started through the garden to look for helpful guards.

It was a good thing Viktor had given me the gun to help me find the Tardis. It would be useful here with that creature after me. I stopped suddenly and face palmed with my good hand. I was so thick. That guard I'd seen was only there to guard the _Tardis_. If I could find that, I could escape.

I kept running, holding my arm to my body so I wouldn't injure it further. I passed another row of bushes and then stopped suddenly. I retraced my steps and found the guard. His or her back was turned to me. They were leaning against something I couldn't see. It was the Tardis. I looked at the stun gun in quiet disgust. Could I actually walk over and hurt that person?

I heard vicious snarls from somewhere else in the garden; from more than one creature. I decided quickly. Yes, I could walk over and do it. I winced at what I would do and ran forward. They heard me and turned just as I pressed the stun gun to their side and clicked the button. They spasmed and dropped down on all fours. He looked up and I didn't recognize his face.

"I'm sorry," I murmured as I shoved him back.

He, weakened by the gun, fell back on the grass. I felt the invisible wall for the lock. I found it as the guard stumbled weakly to his feet. I jammed the key in the lock and turned it as the growls got louder and the guard lifted his gun.

I slipped in just as he fired. I fell in the Tardis and slammed the door shut behind me. My breath came in gasps and I tried to slow my heartbeat. I was alive, for now. I climbed to my feet using the rail and rushed over to the console. The Tardis screen was showing the area right outside the door, and that was good.

I watched the guard grab his radio. He called Trenilia or something. Then he stood ramrod collapsed as the electric shock took over. From the mansion came Trenilia, Juniper, Viktor, and the Doctor. The Doctor was handcuffed. His expression was unreadable. It was like he wasn't sure whether to be happy, mad, or depressed so he ended up looking emotionless. Juniper and Viktor's faces were stoic. Trenilia was clearly angry.

"Enough of the games, girl. Come out of there right now," she ordered me. Then a bit calmer after a pause. "I'll make you a deal. Come out and give up the Tardis and I won't kill you or your Doctor. What do you say?"

I stiffened as she threatened the Doctor's life. I watched his expression, hoping for a clue to what I should do.

"Don't do anything she says, Holly," he said pretty much calmly, but I read his eyes like a Doctor Who fan. He was worried and out of ideas, "You're safe in there. The Tardis has bandages somewhere you can use for your arm. Just don't come out."

"Fine," Trenilia shrugged, "Juniper."

Juniper aimed her gun at the Doctor.

"NO!" I yelled in fear.

Trenilia heard me and motioned for Juniper to lower her weapon.

"Unless you want Juniper to pull the trigger," Trenilia threatened, "Then exit the time machine."

"Holly," the Doctor said in a warning tone, "It isn't worth it. Stay inside the Tardis."

I looked around in hope of an idea, but I was drawing a blank. I looked back at the screen. Juniper held the gun threateningly. Viktor stood off to the side. Trenilia looked impatient.

"I'll give you to the count of ten," she threatened. "One."

I searched around, ideas all rushing around my head, but none working.

"Two."

I ended up searching for something to stop my bleeding arm. Trenilia's voice faded as I ran to find a decent bandage. I wrapped a cloth around my arm quickly.

"Seven."

I ran to the door, but didn't open it. I snatched the stun gun from the ground.

"Eight."

Viktor's instructions for it reran in my head. _If any one of the guards near your time machine see you, press this and point it at them._ That meant it wouldn't have to touch anyone.

"Nine."

I whispered a prayer. Then I slipped the stun gun comfortably in my hand to hide it, glanced at the screen, and flung open the Tardis door. I stood in the doorway silently as Trenilia smiled. I felt so small and helpless, despite the weapon in my hand.

"Smart human," she said with a smile that didn't make me feel very smart. "Now step away from the time machine and try not to drip too much blood on the grass."

I took a few steps to the side and looked to the Doctor. The Doctor looked at me with a look that was half sad, half upset that I hadn't listened to him. I turned my attention back to Trenilia. She looked proud.

"Viktor, handcuff the girl and get the key from her," she ordered.

Viktor walked over to me. He held my hands in place and reached for his handcuffs. I saw a light in his eye when he felt the stun gun in my hand.

"Aim the gun at Juniper and press the button," he murmured so quiet I hardly heard it. "Then you need to shoot me. Trenilia won't be able to stop you and the Doctor, and I'll get off safely."

He unhooked the cuffs from his belt and was about to attach them to my wrists when I jerked back. I pointed the gun at Juniper and pressed the button. A flash of blue sparks shot out at her. I hit her square in the stomach and she collapsed, her gun dropped from her hands.

I turned to Viktor, hoping he read the sorrow in my eyes, and pressed the button again. The Doctor ran to me as Viktor fell. He came to my side. He took the gun from my hands and aimed it at Trenilia. She looked about to scream.

"Don't make a sound," the Doctor ordered quietly. Then to me, "Holly, my sonic is in my pocket. I can't get into the Tardis until the handcuffs are off."

The Doctor waited with the stun gun aimed at Trenilia while I pulled back his jacket to sift through his pockets. I reached in the inner pocket and searched through the all the junk he kept in it. I pulled out the sonic and turned it on facing his handcuffs. They clicked open and fell to the ground.

"Oh, and one other thing," the Doctor said to Trenilia, "This is hopefully the last time I will ever have to see you. So, to leave on a good note—"

He stopped speaking suddenly, pulling me closer and crashing his lips into mine. Then he pulled back, grinning at Trenilia's furious expression and threw the weapon on the ground and yanked me into the Tardis. I stood frozen beside the door as the Doctor raced to pick another destination for the Tardis. The screen showed Trenilia.

"Doctor!" she hollered. "You will pay for this!"

The Doctor ignored this and turned the screen off. She said more, but only one thing was racing through my mind.

The Doctor kissed me. The Doctor _meant_ to kiss me.

He was now pulling at random levers on the Tardis, or rather it seemed random to me. Then the Tardis shook and the lights came back on with the familiar loud sounds. He'd made us visible again just to irritate Trenilia further. Then the screen showed that we were floating in space and the Doctor slowed his rushing. He paused in front of where I still stood in shock.

"Holly?" he said softly. "Is your arm okay?"

I glanced down at my injured arm, which had by now bled through the cloth I'd used. It still burned, but it wasn't as extreme.

"It doesn't hurt as bad now," I decided.

"That's beside the point. That creature has claws coated in a substance that prevents the wounds it creates from healing up. The substance is like little pods, or eggs, but not like eggs; it isn't alive. It causes you to eventually bleed to death. So sit down before you fall down," the Doctor pulled me over to the pilot chair and made me sit. "I'll be right back."

He darted off up the stairs and disappeared from view. I sat and watched my arm for a moment. Then I carefully unwrapped it. I winced as I removed it from the sticky blood. It was indeed still bleeding, a lot. There was a sickening green tint to the blood though. It wasn't extremely obvious, but I clearly noticed it.

The scratches traced from my lower bicep, up my shoulder and about an inch or two along my back. When I bent my arm, the muscle on my arm peeled open at the cut and stung. I gagged and kept my arm straight so that wouldn't happen again.

"I'm back," the Doctor announced, lugging a giant crate with a red cross down the stairs and another dress.

"Yay," I mumbled. "Why do you have that dress?"

"Yours is covered in blood and thanks to that thing's claws, practically falling off of you. You should change into this before I can fix your arm."

I took the dress and found an empty room to change in. The dress was one sleeved, so my wounded arm would be easily accessible. It was much fancier than was appropriate for what we were going to do, but I guess it served its purpose. . I came back into the control room and sat down again.

"Great so," the Doctor sat beside me and dropped the crate on the floor beside up, "How does your arm feel?"

"It kind of hurts. And that green stuff, is that the substance you mentioned?" I asked as he studied my arm.

"Yes," he murmured, "And it isn't good. Turn around so I can check your shoulder."

I turned away from him and he gingerly prodded my shoulder. I flinched and he apologized. Then the Doctor stuck his hand in the big box and pulled out a syringe. It was filled with blue liquid. I eyed it in distaste.

"Relax," the Doctor said calmly, "And trust me, I am the _Doctor_. This will numb your arm a little. Sorry, but I have to dig the pods out of your arm for it to heal up."

"It won't hurt, right?" I confirmed.

He didn't answer. He jabbed the needle into my shoulder.

"Ow!" I squeaked.

"Sorry," he said and dug through the box some more as a fuzzy feeling spread up my arm.

"It won't hurt, _right?_" I repeated.

He still didn't answer and the silence did not assure me. He pulled out gloves that doctors use and a little tool like a scalpel/spoon hybrid. Slipping the gloves on his hands, he also pulled a small bowl from the crate and a bunch of towels.

"This is not very reassuring, Doctor," I said in worry. "Have you done this before?"

"Once or twice," he answered, then quieter, "On other species'."

He pulled out a thick strap of leather.

"You may want to bite on this," he suggested.

"But you said it wouldn't hurt!" I exclaimed.

"I never said that. I said it would numb your arm, meaning you won't be able to move it. You will feel this the whole time, sorry."

"But there has to be something to make it not hurt," I pleaded.

"Not with this type of thing," the Doctor grimaced. "I'm sorry; I really am. There's no other way."

I squeezed my eyes shut and clamped my teeth down on the leather strap. He put a cold hand on my arm and I felt him dip the metallic tool into the lowest part of the wound on my shoulder. I clenched my teeth tighter as pain shot through my arm. I sucked in a breath as he pulled it out of my shoulder. He gently wiped the blood off my arm and repeated this again. This continued painfully for another half hour until the Doctor confirmed that my shoulder was clean of the pods he described.

He turned me around to face him so he could fix the part on my arm. I brushed back tears and prepared for the worst. The Doctor looked like he was in just as much pain as me. He gritted his own teeth as he slipped the tool into the bloody muscle of my arm. Even biting the leather, I couldn't hold back a scream. I clenched my fist and felt tears on my face. This happened again, and again.

When it was finally over, the Doctor put some sort of gel over the cut and wrapped it up. He moved my arm a few times to test it and nodded.

"That should hold for the next few days," he determined. "How does it feel now?"

"Well, apart from the fact that I can't move it yet," I decided, "It feels numb."

"Good, you should gain feeling back in five minutes or possibly less."

"Great," I mumbled. "So what do I do until then?"

"Your choice. You could sit here and complain, or you could sleep, or you could sit here while I pick a less dangerous adventure to end our time as a duo."

"I think I'll pick the third option." I smiled.

"Excellent," the Doctor looked excited. "I have an idea. How about early Earth? Around the 1800s or so?"

"Or wherever the Tardis says you need to be," I added under my breath. "Sounds great!"

"We'll wait a bit so the ride doesn't jerk your arm so much."

"Good idea," I touched the bandage at the mention of it. Then I remembered something that had been bugging me. "Did Queen Tylina know what Trenilia did, Doctor?"

"I don't think she did. I have a feeling it may have been worse if she knew." The Doctor said truthfully.

"As in, we wouldn't have made it out alive?"

"Probably not. But, hey, we did make it out. That's the good thing," the Doctor tried to lighten the mood.

"Why didn't she tell the Queen then?"

"Because the Queen wouldn't have agreed with her motives. She learned something she didn't like and wanted to get rid of you. The Queen wouldn't have gone along with it for her reasons."

"Why not? If she hates me and you, wouldn't any reason work?"

"Not when the reason is who I love. The Queen understands that's a little much to kill you or me over."

"So Trenilia got jealous and decided to kill me without her mom's knowledge. I don't see why jealousy gives her reason to kill me," _even if she's jealous of me about the Doctor_ I added in my head. I flexed my fingers as I gained control of them again.

"Because I don't love her and never will. I love you," he said it so casually in the conversation that it took me a moment to comprehend.

When I heard, my heart raced. I'd heard it already, but saying it to my face was ten hundred thousand times better. I looked up at him with wide eyes. He must've taken my silence wrong.

"It's fine if you don't l—"

I stood quickly and he stopped. I took a bold step forward. I put a hand on either side of his face and pressed my lips to his. There was a pause, a moment of surprise, and then he was kissing me back. We weren't breathing for several seconds. I pulled back, dropping my hands to my sides. I could sense that my face was really red, causing me to blush even more. I glanced away at the ground.

The Doctor didn't move. But from the corner of my eye I saw the smile plastered to his face. He caught my chin in a steady hand and tilted my head up so I would look him in the eyes. He slowly leaned his head in and gave me a careful kiss. When he released my mouth, all I could do was smile.

"Anything you need before our final lone adventure?" he asked; his face still inches from mine.

"Well, before we go to the 1800s, do you think we could stop by my old place to visit my neighbor? We did promise her," I reminded quietly.

"Yes, ma'am," the Doctor responded dutifully with a salute. He kissed me on the mouth and spun around to change our destination.

The Tardis shook and the Doctor stumbled back into the chair beside me, laughing typically. He put an arm around my waist as we stood up. I leaned my head against his shoulder as we exited the Tardis. He'd landed in her driveway beside her little grey car.

"So when did we get here?" I asked the Doctor.

"A few months after I took you."

"But what if _he_ is back?" I shuddered involuntarily.

"Then I'll deal with him," the Doctor decided and knocked on my neighbor's door.

She answered the door and looked at us in surprise.

"Hi, Mrs. Evans," I greeted with a small smile. "Sorry to burst in on you."

She smiled. She glanced at the Doctor once before ushering us into her cozy little house. She led the way to her living room and had us sit down on the couch.

"Just stay right there," she ordered motherly, "I have cookies."

She hobbled off into the kitchen and came back with a platter. It was piled with chocolate chip cookies and she set it on the table in front of us. She sat in another chair as I picked up a cookie to nibble on.

"So how long has it been?" Mrs. Evans asked. "You haven't changed much, but _you've_," she looked pointedly at the Doctor, "regenerated."

"Not long," I assured her, "A few days, really."

"And what has happened, Holly? I may be old, but I can clearly see you've been injured," she glanced at my shoulder.

"It's nothing," I shook my head at concern, "Just a little mishap."

"Okay," she looked at the Doctor, "Then you tell me. What happened to my little girl?" she used reference that she'd always used; after considering herself like a second mother to me.

The Doctor squirmed uncomfortably under her steady gaze.

"A jealous princess," he said quietly without explanation, but continued quickly when Mrs. Evans raised an eyebrow, "tried to kill Holly by setting a bloodthirsty raccoon hybrid on her. Its claws are made to not allow you to heal and it clawed her. We escaped thanks to Holly's brilliance and I helped wrap up her arm."

Mrs. Evans was silent for a moment and I continued to eat my cookie.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay, Holly," she said sincerely.

"It wasn't that big of a deal, really," I added, then changed subjects, "How've you been? Has he come back yet?"

"Unfortunately yes. That man got released two weeks ago. He's been in and out of the house looking for work, since he got fired." Mrs. Evans looked at the clock. "He'll be back in about an hour, actually. How about you tell me all that's happened since you left? Then you should probably go before he gets back."

"Deal," I smiled. I leaned against the Doctor as he examined a cookie. "After we left, the Doctor and I visited Paris for a few minutes. Then we went to watch the sunset a few hundred years ago. You remember Jack Harkness?" Mrs. Evans nodded, "He was dead when we showed up. When he woke up again the Doctor went in the Tardis to get chairs and the doors shut. The Tardis left and Jack and I were stuck in the snow over night.

"When the Tardis got back, the Doctor regenerated because of a dalek. We dropped Jack who-knows-where and met Amy Pond. Then we did the whole Prisoner Zero episode, had dinner, and went to Anoraleece Trolip. There was the whole princess issue and then we decided to come here."

"Anoraleece Trolip?" Mrs. Evans repeated in curiosity.

"It wasn't ever mentioned on Doctor Who," I informed her. "From what I saw, it was a very pretty planet, even if the royal family hates us. The Royal Garden was magnificent. You would have been impressed."

"So this princess was jealous of you?" Mrs. Evans repeated. "Because?"

"Him," I motioned to the Doctor with my thumb.

"Ah, jealous of love," Mrs. Evans nodded in understanding.

I raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. She was quick to pick it up.

"No need to look surprised, either of you," she chuckled. "I know it when I see it. And I saw it the second I opened that front door. You can stop blushing, girl. You picked a good man this time."

"Yeah," I murmured.

"So what happened to make you regenerate?" Mrs. Evans asked. "It shouldn't have been a dalek."

"The Daleks found a complicated technology that allowed them to control the Tardis. They dropped my Tardis, and me, into the middle of their one surviving ship, which somehow survived genocide. I managed to retrieve and blow up the tech. However, I got shot as I engineered my escape. I was lucky to find Holly and Jack again before I regenerated."

"You were a day late though," I corrected under my breath.

"At least it wasn't three years this time," the Doctor added to me.

"I don't think I could have survived three years with Jack." I chuckled, and then my smile vanished for a second, "Though I wouldn't have survived another minute if you hadn't squashed that wolf."

"Explain?" Mrs. Evans and the Doctor had the same worried/curious look.

"Well after you left Jack and I had to find somewhere to sleep that wasn't as cold as outside. He dug a hole that we hid in until morning. Then the next morning we played tic-tac-toe in the snow. Then I found a bunch of blood. Jack admitted that wolves had attacked during the night. The wolves came back and we were about to get attacked and the Tardis kind of landed on one."

I bit into a cookie so I could stop talking about it. The Doctor looked faintly disgusted at what he'd landed on. Mrs. Evans looked concerned.

"But you were okay after that?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're fine now." I reassured.

"Except your arm, which is my entire fault," the Doctor murmured, touching the bandage carefully.

"Relax, Doctor."

There was the sound of a car outside. Mrs. Evans got up and looked out the window. She turned back with a worried look.

"It's him," I didn't ask, just stated it.

"The only reason he would be back so soon is that he got kicked out of the place he was looking for a job." Mrs. Evans said.

"Which isn't all that unlikely to occur," I added. "Should we stay or should we go?"

"If you leave now, he'll just see you. But he's probably already recognized the Tardis," Mrs. Evans spoke. She looked out the window again, "He's coming to the front door."

The Doctor stood up. I went to stand too, but he put a hand on my good shoulder and pushed me down on the couch again. He went over to Mrs. Evans and whispered in her ear. She nodded and went to stand near the door.

"Doctor, what do I do?" I asked him worriedly.

"Just stay there. This will be fine," he assured me. "Just sit here and don't move."

The doorbell rang five times and there was a furious banging on the wood. Mrs. Evans waited a moment as the Doctor stuck a hand in his coat pocket. He dug around in his pocket and pulled out the Tardis key on a string. I recognized it from his previous regeneration episode. He slipped it over my head, gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, and ran to the back of the house. Then she answered the door.

"Hello, Mark. How are you today?" she asked in her polite neighbor voice.

"Don't play stupid, Vera, I saw the Tardis outside," Mark's voice spat from the porch. "Where is she? And the Doctor?"

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you mean, Mark. Isn't the Tardis from that nice show years ago? And the Doctor, he was on that show, too." Mrs. Evans was great at acting innocent and unaware.

"Where is she?" Mark repeated in anger.

"Who?"

"You know who. Holly!" he exclaimed in anger.

"You know as well as I that she disappeared months ago," Mrs. Evans reminded him. "Would you like to come in and have a cookie?"

"Why would you make cookies if you're alone?" he asked suspiciously, letting himself in.

She shrugged, "I'm an old woman. I suppose its habit after all of these years."

I sat frozen on the couch as he came in the room and looked around. I waited for him to see me and start yelling, but the key worked wonders. His eyes passed right over me. Mrs. Evans offered him the platter of cookies and he snatched one up.

"Now why are you so worried about that old TV show, Mark?" she asked.

"It's real! And I know the Doctor and Holly are here. The Tardis is parked in your driveway, woman!"

Mrs. Evans raised an eyebrow, "No it isn't."

Mark stormed to the window and looked outside. I glanced passed him at the empty spot that once held the Tardis.

"But it was right there!" he spluttered. "How did it…?"

"Well, it is the Tardis. That's her job. To disappear," the Doctor's voice came from down the hall and he appeared. He looked at Mrs. Evans, "Sorry, Vera, is it? Sorry to burst in on you like this."

"Of course not," Mrs. Evans didn't look surprised, but didn't look like she knew the Doctor. "Aren't you the Doctor?"

"Yes I am. Pleasure to meet you," then he looked at Mark and his voice got dark, "Hello again, Mark. What have you been up to? Besides bursting in on innocent elderly women?"

"I saw your Tardis on the driveway. Now where is she? And where is Holly?" Mark demanded.

"Are you suggesting the Doctor took Holly?" Mrs. Evans asked.

"She ran off with him. I could sue for the affair." Mark threatened.

"Sue?" the Doctor snorted, sending me a nearly unnoticeable smirk, "Sue me for saving a wonderful young girl's life from the likes of you. That is definitely going to put the jury on your side. They still use a jury right? And how is that an affair, exactly? She considers you her ex-husband nowadays."

"Did you just admit to an affair with my wife?" Mark looked enraged.

"Of course not. Just stating the facts, and being the genius I am, there are a lot of facts I know and you don't," the Doctor said casually and I held back a snicker.

"You're new. Did you die again?" You could tell no matter how angry Mark was, he was curious.

"Yes, I did. So glad you've noticed."

"I don't want to be rude, but my show is on. Could you please take your affairs argument elsewhere?" Mrs. Evans asked.

"No need," the Doctor picked up a cookie and motioned to the door. "Mark was just leaving. Weren't you, Mark?"

Mark still looked furious, but he stormed out none-the-less. When he was off the drive and on the sidewalk, the Doctor smiled.

"Okay, Holly, you can come out." He informed me. He came over and slipped the key from around my neck.

"How come you can still see me?" I asked.

"Time Lord. Takes a bit more than that to confuse me," he had a slightly smug grin as he kissed my forehead.

I giggled. Then I glanced out the window and looked right into Mark's eyes. I tensed and stepped back as I saw him. He was beyond angry, and went farther over the edge when he saw me. The Doctor glanced out and saw him as well. Mark spun around and started towards the door.

"Well that didn't go like I planned," the Doctor mumbled. He glanced down at me, "It's perfectly okay, Holly. What can he do?"

"Go crazy and try to hurt us," I answered quickly and honestly.

"Key word being _try_," the Doctor smiled reassuringly, "He can't do a thing. We should probably go now."

"But he might hurt Mrs. Evans," I worried and glanced at my neighbor.

She waved it off. "I'll be fine."

"He'll hurt you now that he knows I'm here and you know."

"Why don't you go upstairs?" the Doctor suggested, "We won't break anything, I promise. We'll just have a civilized talk with your neighbor."

"Okay," Mrs. Evans didn't question him and went upstairs and the door flew open.

"Holly," Mark snarled in the doorway. Then there was an amused smile as he eyed my shoulder, "You got hurt."

I immediately wanted to cower behind the Doctor. Instead, I found courage. I took the Doctor's hand and stood straight.

"Go away, Mark," I said coolly, but with an edge.

This surprised Mark. He didn't know what to do. He saw my fingers entwined in the Doctor's fingers.

"So you are having an affair with the Doctor?" he glared.

"Didn't you here the Doctor, Mark? We are no longer married," I held up my bare left hand. "No ring. And I would never feel guilty, even if we were married, for you to know about this," I stretched up and planted a kiss on the Doctor's surprised lips.

I looked to Mark again. He was, obviously, mad and surprised.

"Now leave," I said coldly.

"I ought to—," Mark growled, but didn't finish his threat.

"You ought to leave," I interrupted, "Get out of this house _now_!"

**Tada! Tis completed yet again. How as it? If you have something nice to say, Review!  
However if what you want to say is very mean and rude and will hurt my feelings, just think it to yourself and don't review about it. Okay? Okay.**


	16. It was a nice day in 1863

**Sorry it's been so long. Things to do, no time to write. But I've completed another chapter! :) Enjoy**

I was holding back the urge to punch my ex-husband. He still wouldn't leave; he was having a standoff against me and the Doctor. He looked about to explode, and I wish he would.

"Give up, Mark," the Doctor said finally, "You aren't going to succeed in anything by standing there looking stupid. Go home, look for a job, get a nonviolent hobby, or invest in anger management classes. You are not going to have Holly or anything to do with her, understood?" With a typical Doctor grin and an arm pulling me closer, "She's mine now."

Mark was struggling, I could see. He wouldn't last much longer with his emotions.

"I suggest you leave, Mark," I added, "The cops will be here soon. I'm pretty sure they won't be too happy about arresting you twice in a couple months."

Mark didn't need to be told twice. He glared at the Doctor for a second longer and ran out the door. The door slammed shut.

"Well done, Holly," the Doctor commented, "Your improvisation is improved immensely."

"I learned from the best."

Mrs. Evans came back downstairs.

"He's gone?" she confirmed.

"Yes, and hopefully he will never bother you again," the Doctor informed. "Now we should probably be on our way. The 1800s await."

"It was nice to see you again, Holly," Mrs. Evans said as she carefully hugged me. Then she turned to the Doctor, "You better keep my little girl safe or you'll have to deal with me. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," the Doctor said, almost sounding nervous.

I smiled, waved farewell and followed the Doctor into the back room where he'd parked the Tardis to hide it from Mark. We slipped in and I shut the door behind us. The Doctor danced over to the console and started pressing buttons. I sat down in the chair behind him to wait.

The Tardis shifted and shuddered for a few seconds. Then she landed wherever the Doctor had aimed to land. He spun around when I stood to push me back onto the seat. He pulled up the giant box with the Red Cross symbol again.

"Let's check up on your arm before we go out there," the Doctor suggested, "Also you need to change. As much as I like that dress, it isn't appropriate for," he glanced at the screen, "1863."

"What would one wear in the middle of the Civil War, then, Doctor?" I asked as he unwrapped my shoulder.

"Down that hall, second hall on the right, forth door down on the left. It's a room with time appropriate clothing," he instructed as he looked over my wound. "You're healing fairly well."

He brushed his fingers across my shoulder. I shivered at his cold touch. My shoulder had stopped hurting, but after contact with the air, it stung again. The Doctor noticed my wince as air blew on my shoulder. Then he did something unexpected; he kissed my shoulder with cool lips. Oddly enough, my shoulder felt better after the contact. He added the weird goo on the cut again and wrapped it up tightly in a wrap that matched my skin color. With a confident pat on my head, he helped me stand and directed me to the correct hallway.

I started down the second hallway and counted to the forth door. I was about to open it when I heard a noise from the room across the hall. I pressed my ear to the door and heard more shuffling. I tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. I was tempted to knock, but chose not to. I would come and investigate after the 1800s. I instead went back to the correct door. I opened the door and was met with an enormous wardrobe. There was row after row after row of clothes. I looked at the huge setup in awe.

Each row had a symbol above it and then translation into numbers. They were numbered by century or point in time. I found one that was dedicated to the time around the Civil War on Earth, because apparently about 18 other planets had also had civil wars. I searched through the options and found a dress that looked appropriate. I changed into it, carefully sliding the material over my covered shoulder. After checking myself in the twelve-foot mirror, I found my way back to the control room.

The Doctor was on his back with his upper half hidden under the console. I heard clanging as he banged on something with his hammer. He glanced up at me when I entered. His eyes widened and he accidentally hit his own hand. He jerked up and waved his hand around in pain. I giggled as he stuck it in his mouth. After the pain had apparently died away, he stood up.

"Wow, you look…wow," he murmured.

"Thanks," I blushed.

"Now," he brushed his hands off on his pants, "let's go check out the town."

He held out a hand and I took it. He opened the door and we exited near a road in the middle of nowhere.

"So where did we land and when did we land?" I asked, leaning against the Doctor.

"Near Day's Gap, Alabama on April 29th," he answered after taking a breath.

"Hey, I recall something happening around that day," I furrowed my eyebrow as I tried to remember why the date was so familiar. "Wasn't a battle in the Civil War tomorrow? People die tomorrow!"

"Hmm, I guess you're right," the Doctor frowned. "Let's see what we can do to change that."

"Won't that change history and in turn change a lot of the future?"

"Probably just a little bit. This isn't one of the extremely big battles, and we can just hang around for a bit is all. We don't have to do anything if it's too much," he said confidently.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm the Doctor, of course I'm sure. I only mess up sometimes."

"And that fills me with such confidence in you."

"Relax," he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Should I name everything that could happen?" I answered. "For starters-"

He put a finger to my lips to stop me speaking.

"Rhetorical question, Holly."

I shrugged and said, muffled by his hand, "Same difference. Something bad always happens when people say that. And it's usually very bad for _you_."

"That's beside the point. Let's go enjoy the day. Save some lives," he hooked arms with me and we strolled down the road. "Now remember women's status these days. You can't talk too much. Just go along with everything I say, okay?"

"I always do," I reminded him.

"Good, now smile and try to look less beautiful. Someone might try to take you from me again," he winked.

"I'll try, I guess," I sighed.

"It's not working," he informed me, "You're still drop dead gorgeous."

I felt my face go bright red.

"Thanks," I murmured against his shoulder, weaving my fingers through his.

"Just saying it like it is, Holly," he squeezed my hand and pointed ahead. "Look, a local."

I looked up and saw someone on a horse drawn wagon driving towards us on the road. I could pick out hay filling the wagon behind them. They pulled back on the reins when they reached us and looked down from their seat.

"Hello," the Doctor greeted.

"Howdy. Y'all from round here?" the man asked in a well-mannered Southern accent. "By the looks of it yer a little lost. Where you headed strangers?"

"To Day's Gap," the Doctor answered, "Is it that obvious that we're lost, sir?"

"Well, Day's Gap is a mile that way," he pointed behind us, "The way yer headed will take you five miles to a town. Do y'all need a ride? These ain't good times to wander round by yerselves in the middle of nowhere."

"We'd really appreciate it, good sir," the Doctor responded with a smile.

"You'll need to sit in back, but Miss, you can sit up here," the man offered as he climbed down.

He helped me climb up onto the seat and sat beside me. The Doctor sat in back with the hay. He looked over my shoulder and stuck out a hand.

"Thank you for the ride. I'm the Doctor, by the way."

"A doctor, huh? We're in need of those now-a-days," the man shook his hand, then mine, "The name's Jonathan Walker. You can call me John." He looked to me, "And yer name?"

"I'm Holly, sir," I greeted politely.

"So what are y'all doin' out in the middle of nowhere at a time like this? Where you from?" John asked as he urged the horse to start walking down the road again.

"We're from out of the state," was the Doctor's answer, "A good ways out of the state."

"You from up North?" John asked, not harsh, just curious.

"Yes, sir, somewhere up there," the Doctor replied vaguely, looking ahead for the approaching town. "We're out in the middle of nowhere, though, so news travels slowly. How are things around here?"

"I'd like to hope things are getting quieter, but who knows when this war will end. We keep praying though. My oldest is up in the fighting right now. Jack's a good little soldier," John looked proud of his son.

"Who's he fighting for?" the Doctor asked bluntly.

"Don't let the neighbor's know, but he's fighting for the North. We don't believe slavery is right. The family is entirely against it, so if either of you are for it…"

"No," I assured, "We are strongly opposed to it."

"That's good," he nodded.

"Do you have any workers, John?" the Doctor asked, "Your neighbors would figure out how you feel about slaves if you don't have any."

"We have a few workers, but they are just as equal as us," John said firmly.

"That's good," the Doctor said from behind us.

"So where in town are ya headed?" John asked.

"Nowhere in particular," the Doctor answered.

"If ya need, I have an extra room. If yer staying for a few days," John suggested.

"That's very kind of you. We really appreciate it." The Doctor looked up the road. I followed his gaze and saw a few houses dotting the land ahead.

"Here we are," John pulled up on a road towards one of the houses. "Home sweet home."

He stopped the horse closer to a small barn. John jumped down and held out a hand for me. I took it and stepped down from the wagon. The Doctor jumped over the side of the back. John motioned towards the house.

"I'll introduce you to the family," he spoke and started walking up to the little house. "And then I have to unload this hay. Doctor, would you be willing to help? It'll only take a few minutes with help."

"Of course, just tell me what I've got to do," the Doctor smiled.

John led the way to the house. He opened the front door and was attacked by two girls who couldn't have been over 8 years old. They jumped him when he stepped inside.

"Papa!" they said gleefully.

I smiled despite myself as he ruffled their hair. The girls noticed the Doctor and me and stopped laughing.

"Who are they?" one asked, with bright blue eyes and looked about seven.

"This is Holly and the Doctor," he named us off, then turned to us, "This is Elizabeth and Rebecca."

A woman in an apron came out from what I guessed was a kitchen. She smiled and kissed John before looking to us. She smiled in a friendly manner. She shook our hands.

"Holly and the Doctor need a place to stay, Sarah," John explained to the woman, whom I guessed was his wife.

"Then of course they are free to stay here." Sarah nodded.

"The Doctor and I are gonna unload the wagon," John stated and motioned to the door.

He and the Doctor left the house. Elizabeth and Rebecca skipped up to me with cute little smiles.

"Hello," Rebecca chirped, with shining brown eyes. She looked about five.

"Are you staying here long?" Elizabeth asked.

"Elizabeth, you shouldn't ask such rude questions," chastened Sarah. She looked apologetically to me, "I'm sorry. They're usually much more polite."

"It's okay," I assured, and looked back to the girls, "The Doctor and I will probably be here a few days," I glanced at Sarah, "If it's alright with you, of course."

"Of course. Stay as long as you need," Sarah answered graciously.

"Thank you," I smiled appreciatively.

Sarah led me to the table and I sat down on a chair. Elizabeth and Rebecca followed, intrigued by a new presence in the household. They sat down beside me. Sarah left to the kitchen, probably to start making dinner. Elizabeth scooted forward on her chair, an eager child.

"Where are you from?" she asked with bright curious eyes.

"I'm from up North," I answered, not sure of where I could say, since the Doctor didn't give me or mention a story.

"What's it like up there?" Rebecca asked.

"Well," I tried to think of an explanation of the place I was used to in the future.

"What are the stores like?" Elizabeth asked, giving me a free ride out of making up a huge story. I could be vague with stores.

"The stores are very big," I described, "They're full of lots of things."

"Are there lots of dresses like yours?" Rebecca asked, pointing at my dress.

"Yeah, they have whole stores of them," I touched the hem of the material as I thought of all my lessons in school about this time period. I tried to think of what 1863 had in stores.

"Is there lots of candy?" Elizabeth asked eagerly.

"There are a few shops around where I live with candies," I answered.

The girls were completely absorbed in my descriptions, though I was being vague as possible. Sarah came back, drying her hands on her apron. She smiled at her wide-eyed daughters. Another woman followed her, one with dark skin. She looked about my age. The woman looked wary of me, but tried to cover it up. I stood to be polite and reached out a hand.

"I'm Holly," I greeted with a friendly smile.

She looked at my hand before shaking it.

"I am Grace," she replied.

"It's nice to meet you," I said sincerely. Then I looked at Sarah, "Is there anyone else here I can introduce myself to, Sarah? So I know everyone's names? I can relay it to the Doctor, too."

Grace still seemed unsure of me as she went back into the kitchen. Sarah nodded and looked at her daughter's.

"Rebecca, Elizabeth, would you like to introduce Holly to everyone here?" she asked.

"Yes!" they both jumped up, happy to get to help.

Rebecca took my hand in her smaller one and tugged me towards the door. "Come on. We'll go check outside first!"

Elizabeth took my other hand as they led me outside. We walked down a dirt path to the barn. There were two black men with hammers and wooden boards by the side of the barn. They were nailing the boards to the wall.

"Eli and Lewis are fixing the barn wall," Elizabeth explained, "because one of the horses spooked and crashed the wagon right through it!"

It was probably an exaggeration, I decided, but close to what had happened. Eli and Lewis were patching up broken pieces in the wall by taken down cracked and broken boards to replace them. They stopped what they were doing when they saw us coming. Both were leaning against the barn when Rebecca and Elizabeth led me up.

"This is Lewis," Rebecca pointed to the taller man, who looked about my age, "And Eli," then other man was about my height, but looked around nineteen or twenty. She smiled as them and pointed to me with the hand not clutching mine. "This is Holly," she chirped. "She's staying with us for a few days."

"Ma'am," they greeted from a distance in unison.

"It's nice to meet you," I replied with a smile.

They looked a little taken aback by my fair behavior, but turned back to continue on the side of the barn. Rebecca and Elizabeth pulled me to the entrance to the barn. Inside, which I considered a good sized space for 1863, the Doctor and John were unloading bales of hay in the corner. On the other side were two more black men brushing down horses. Elizabeth and Rebecca directed me over to them. They didn't look up from the horses.

"This is Timothy and Charles," Elizabeth named before hugging the light tan horse Charles was brushing, "This old boy is Dust."

Rebecca affectionately stroked the grey horse's shoulder, which was as high as she could reach, "This little girl is Snowstorm."

Dust nudged my shoulder with his nose. I released Rebecca's hand and cupped my own against his soft nose. Rebecca used her free hand to her advantage and hugged Snowstorm. Charles offered a spare brush to Elizabeth and she started to brush Dust's neck.

"He likes you," Elizabeth determined happily as Dust stood patiently when I rubbed the light spot between his eyes.

There was the sound of hands being brushed on pants and I looked back. The Doctor and John were done and the Doctor walked over to us while dusting his hands off. He smiled at me. He pointed to the horse that had been pulling the wagon that brought us here.

"Apparently Lark over there steered the wagon through the wall a few days ago," he informed me.

"Yeah," I smiled, "Eli and Lewis are patching the hole back up. Have you met them yet?"

"I have," the Doctor replied. He looked at the two men with the horses."I haven't met them yet though. I overheard names. You are Timothy and Charles, correct?"

They glanced up to nod at us. Rebecca looked away from the horse to look to Charles.

"Do you know where Isaac is?" she asked.

"He's on the roof," Charles pointed up with his brush. "He'll be down in about ten minutes prob'ly."

"You can meet him when he comes down," Rebecca decided.

"Fantastic," the Doctor grinned, typically.

"So what're y'all up to that requires ya to stay round here?" Charles asked, "If you don't mind my askin'."

"Of course we don't mind," the Doctor assured, then thought up a story for us at Time Lord speed, "We're just checking around. We aren't in a very informed spot up where we're from, so we are just checking. How's it going?"

"If yer askin' bout the war, it's still going on," Timothy said, slightly bitter, from the other side of Snowstorm. I took it as he was tender about the subject. "Don't look like we're winnin'."

I held back the urge to tell him that they would win, knowing it would just lead to trouble. I glanced at the Doctor. He shook his head almost unnoticeably at me. He knew what I was thinking, and knew it wasn't going to happen. Rebecca looked between me and the Doctor for a moment as we had this silent communication. Then she went back to happily stroking the horse.

"So how did you get here?" Elizabeth asked.

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, Papa gave you a ride to our house," she explained in her little, yet logical voice. "But you said you were from up North. How did you get the rest of the way here?"

I glanced at the Doctor. He furrowed his eyebrows. He looked at me.

"How do you explain Time and Relative Dimensions in Space to someone from 1863?" he asked me under his breath.

"Huh?" Elizabeth looked bewildered and confused.

I shrugged. He acknowledged this and looked back to the little girl. Timothy and Charles were both watching us now. They were clearly expecting an answer too.

"We could tell them," the Doctor admitted to me.

"There isn't much else we could do," I agreed. "Why not? But, you tell them."

"Oh, why?" the Doctor pouted.

"You're the best at explaining that kind of this," I pointed out.

"What are y'all talkin' 'bout?" John exasperated from beside Dust. I hadn't seen him come over.

"We'll explain to everyone later," the Doctor promised.

"If it's 'bout what yer doin' here," John answered, "I'd appreciate if ya told us now. There's a war goin' on. We don' like secrets."

"Of course," the Doctor nodded, "That's a reasonable response in any time, I suppose. Shall we all go up to the house?"

John nodded with a serious face and turned to the door. We followed, and the girls and other men took up the rear. Eli and Lewis came too. The Doctor nudged me.

"We aren't doing too bad," he mused.

"We've been here a couple minutes and already have to explain who we are," I answered with a roll of my eyes. "You don't fit in around here well enough."

"I fit in perfectly fine, Holly." the Doctor argued, a playful smile on his face. "It isn't my fault these little ones are so perceptive. I didn't expect to be interrogated by little girls."

"They are pretty smart lil' 'uns," Charles mentioned from behind us.

"Indeed," the Doctor agreed. He glanced at me, "It seems all girls are. Is that a female thing?"

"Yep," I chirped.

"That's why I always meet girls. They're always the ones in the middle of things, because they think too much into it," he tapped my head. "Or are stubborn and bother to find out."

We reached the house again. John motioned for us to talk as Sarah and Grace came in. The Doctor rubbed his neck uncomfortably. He glanced at me.

"Where would a human want me to begin?" he asked.

I sighed and turned to the group. "We're from the future." I told them and waited for reaction.

John raised an eyebrow, "If it's such a big deal, we won't ask. There's no need to lie."

"No, actually, we are. Well," I paused, "I am, sort of. The Doctor is..."

"I'm an alien," he said bluntly.

"Yeah that," I continued, "I'm from the year 2018."

None of the adults looked like they believed. Rebecca and Elizabeth looked like they really did, though.

"Really?" Rebecca asked with huge eyes.

"Yeah. That's why I had difficulty telling you where we were from. Because I am from up North, but about," I paused to calculate for a split second, and taking the Doctor's hand out of habit, "155 years in the future. Plus I hadn't really been out and about then either."

"Why not?" Elizabeth questioned.

"I had an abusive husband," I said barely above a whisper. The Doctor's hand tensed and I squeezed it reassuringly.

The adults' eyes softened. Sarah stepped forward.

"I believe you," she decided. "But what have you to do with this man if you are married?" she pointed to the Doctor.

"I knew him before I married. He came back, found out about Mark," I met the Doctor's eye, "And pretty much saved my life. Now Mark is my ex-husband and I hopefully will never see that horrible man ever again."

"Not if I can help it," the Doctor promised.

"How are you an alien?" Rebecca asked the Doctor.

"I'm a Time Lord," he answered.

"But you look human," she accused.

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first." he answered again with a smile. I giggled at the quote. He looked at me sideways, "Did I say that often in the show?"

"Maybe a couple times," I admitted.

"Okay, even if this is all true," John started, "How the heck did you get here? There's no such thing as aliens or time travel."

"Ah, a nonbeliever," I giggled, "Doctor, does this mean we get to prove him wrong?"

"I do enjoy that." the Doctor looked at all the faces. "If you aren't busy, I could show you my time machine."

"Really!" Elizabeth and Rebecca jumped up and down excitedly.

"I guess we aren't too busy at the moment," Sarah admitted.

"Right then. We'll need that horse, Lark, was it? Lark hooked up to the wagon again. John, you remember where you found us, correct?" John nodded. "Good, the TARDIS is over there. Let's go then," the Doctor grinned and straightened his bowtie.

"Alright," John didn't look 100 percent convinced, but he'd listen none the less, "Charles, Eli, it'll be quicker with help. Lewis, go find Isaac and explain this, could you?"

The three black men followed him out. Sarah and Grace went to clean up whatever they'd been doing. Rebecca and Elizabeth chattered about time travel in excitement. Timothy came over to me.

"Ma'am," he said. "If you really are from the future 'n all. The war ends, right?"

"Yep," I answered, glancing at the Doctor because I knew the follow-up question.

"How does it turn out fer us?" he asked.

"I really shouldn't say," I apologized.

"Well," the Doctor came over, "Maybe just one person won't go blabbing." he frowned, "Never used that word before. I hope I never say that again." He clapped Timothy on the shoulder, "If you promise not to tell, I guess we can tell you a little."

"I'll stay quiet, sir," he responded.

"Don't call me sir," the Doctor grimaced, "I'd really rather you didn't."

I steered us back on track, "Timothy. The war does end soon. And after a few debates and issues. Color is not an issue. Everyone's free."

Timothy smiled at the thought. It lit up his face from the previous stoic look. We waited until Grace and Sarah were ready, then went out to the wagon. John and Sarah climbed up front and the rest of us loaded up in back. The Doctor sat beside me and on my other side sat the little girls. We were about a mile down the road, I could see the familiar blue box, when a couple horses and riders ran by. They looked like soldiers. They were yelling something to each other and that must've spooked Lark again. The horse jolted and practically danced sideways. I fell backwards off the wagon.

"Holly," the Doctor jumped over the side of the wagon and got down beside me.

I clutched my injured shoulder as John tried to calm down Lark. The Doctor yanked back the material of my sleeve. Landing on my shoulder had reopened the wound again. It was bleeding through the wrapping. Rebecca and Elizabeth gasped at the red, causing everyone but the young girls to climb off the wagon to check on me. The Doctor gently unwrapped my shoulder to check on the cuts.

"It would be your luck to land on your already injured shoulder, Holly," he tried to lighten the mood. "I need the first aid from the TARDIS to fix this up again."

"Then let's hurry it up," I replied, after wincing.

"You've probably got dirt in the wound now," Sarah determined. "It'll get infected."

"Not if I can help it," the Doctor responded.

Everyone got back in the wagon as John climbed into the driver's seat. The Doctor picked me up easily and set me on the back of the wagon. He sat beside me as Lark took off at a faster pace. He traced around the blood to determine whether I'd injured my arm further than the raccoon scratches. John stopped up the road to the blue box. The Doctor climbed down and picked me up again. He started carrying me towards the TARDIS. The others followed us. I peered over his shoulder at their confused faces.

"That box is the time machine?" Rebecca asked. "We won't all fit in that!"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud at this, despite the pain it caused. I felt the Doctor shaking from silent laughter, too. Rebecca looked confused. When we reached the TARDIS door the Doctor turned to the group.

"Now, a few rules," he explained, "One, don't wander off in my TARDIS. And two, don't touch _anything_." He stressed "anything" especially.

He set me on my feet so he could pull out the key. Unlocking the door, he threw it open and he and I stepped inside. I peered back out when no one else entered. I looked at the surprised faces.

"Are you coming or not?" I asked with a small smile.

Elizabeth was the bravest soul. She crept over and looked in. With a squeak of shock, she bolted into the TARDIS. This caused Rebecca to get curious, causing everyone to come on in. There were loud gasps as each person saw inside the TARDIS. I saw the Doctor smile proudly at the reactions as he pulled over the box of first aid. He motioned for me to sit down. He opened the box and pulled my sleeve off my shoulder. Sarah managed to get control of her surprise first and rushed over to check on me. The Doctor pulled out a towel and carefully wiped off the blood. He went through the same routine as last time, except he pulled out a bottle of light green liquid.

He got a rag wet with the liquid and dabbed it on my shoulder. I winced and he muttered an apology.

"This will disinfect and destroy all the bacteria that shouldn't be there," he explained, partially to me partially to Sarah.

"But there couldn't be such a thing to do that," she murmured. "It isn't possible."

"It's quite possible." I replied. "There's a lot created for the medical field in the future. Plus there is very advanced stuff in the TARDIS."

The Doctor nodded to himself and pulled out more cloth to wrap my arm. He looked around at the other adults and children wandering in circles around the controls.

"Elizabeth, please don't touch that!" he said to a blushing girl as she pulled her hand back from a shiny blue lever.

He brushed his fingers along my shoulder, sending a chill up my spine. Butterflies flittered in my stomach as his hand traced along my cheek.

"It should heal in no time," he informed softly, "As long as we keep you from injuring it again in the future."

I was acutely aware that Sarah had witnessed this. The Doctor went back to completing wrapping up my shoulder. He made sure it stayed firm, and slid my sleeve back up my arm. He smiled at me, making my stomach flutter, and stood up again. I stood up beside him and we watched the ten people around the time machine. They were still obviously baffled by the prospect of the TARDIS and time travel. The Doctor clapped his hands together.

"I do believe we should be getting back to your house," he announced.

John looked out the door and I heard him say words under his breath.

"Lark's gone," he announced angrily. "Soldiers or thieves. The wagon's in pieces. We're lucky I was startin' makin' a bigger 'un. Looks like were walkin'."

The Doctor and I shared a look.

"Or not," I pointed out.

"Why wouldn't we?" Charles said. "It's a mile away. If we start now, we can get back in time to still get dinner."

"Look around you," the Doctor motioned wildly with his arms. "We can get there in a minute if you all just stay put for a moment."

Rebecca and Elizabeth looked ecstatic at the chance.

"Now, you all might want hang on to something," I informed them. They wasted no time clinging to the nearest stable object.

"Great," the Doctor grinned. "Holly, pull that green lever, turn that knob 90 degrees and then press that button for me? Right, about," I prepared myself and he banged on an odd shaped bell with his hammer. "Now."

I followed instructions and the TARDIS started shaking. The women, not used to this, screamed.

"Calm down!" I instructed as the Doctor fiddled with the controls. "That's normal."

When we slowly lurched and were still, I walked calmly to the door. Looking out, I saw that we were literally five yards from the door. I waved for everyone to exit and they did, plenty glad to leave. Grace gasped.

"Well I'll be," she said. "We moved!"

The Doctor was stepping out when he looked at my blood stained sleeve.

"Would you like to change again?" he asked me.

"That'd be smart," I admitted.

He nodded and slipped back in the TARDIS. Eli and Lewis went back to their duties with the barn wall. Timothy and Charles left to continue with the horses. Isaac went where he was needed as well. The women and Rebecca went back in the house. Elizabeth stayed beside me, a calculating look on her small face. When the Doctor reappeared, she opened her mouth.

"Are you married?" she asked, looking between us.

There was an odd pause. The Doctor handed me the dress.

"You should change into this now," he instructed, holding the TARDIS door open.

I went in, confused as to why he made me leave to answer this. Was he really so keen to explain that we were different species'? I quickly, but carefully, changed into the other dress, which was similar to my first. I checked myself in the mirror and exited the TARDIS again. Elizabeth had gone inside. At first I didn't see him, but the Doctor was examining the blue paint on the back wall of the police box.

"She may need a new paint coat in some spots," he murmured. He looked up. "Holly, looking ravishing as ever."

I blushed. He stood straight again and walked around the TARDIS. Stopping beside me, he held out a hand, which I took.

"While you were getting dressed, I took it upon myself to ask about the nearest soldier campsite." he informed me as we walked in the house. "There's a Confederate campsite a few miles away. We can go check it out tomorrow, because dinner will be soon and it'll get dark shortly after. Does time noramlly have to pass so slowly?"

"Unfortunately, if you really think about the time passing, it seems longer," I replied, knowing this from many time's experience.

We weren't waiting too long when the girls and women placed dishes of food on the table. Sarah brushed her hands off and looked to us before getting more food.

"I'm sorry there isn't much. All the extra has been going to the soldiers," she apologized. "Could you go get John and the others?"

"Of course." I agreed.

The Doctor and I went back out to look around for the six men. We rounded them up quickly and got back inside as the sun started setting. The meal was good, even small. The vegetables were fresh and the soup was flavored just right. I helped clean up while the Doctor talked to the men. Elizabeth and Rebecca asked a bunch of questions about stores of the future. I informed them of the big stores full of small ones, called malls. And that there were stores lined with every candy they could imagine and more. They were of course extremely happy at the notion.

Afterwards, Sarah showed us to the spare room. It was a small room with a bed tucked in the corner. We could have brought up that the TARDIS had many many rooms we could've stayed in, but didn't want to be rude, so we accepted.

"You'll have to share the bed. It's our only spare," Sarah admitted as she left the room.

I sat on the edge of the bed and drummed my fingers on the post. The Doctor leaned on the wall.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" I asked him.

"We'll go have a chat with some soldiers at the camp and see what we find out." the Doctor decided. "And if possible, we save a few lives. Hopefully nothing will go wrong and we'll be out by tomorrow night. Sound good to you?"

"Sounds good," I replied. Then on to another, slightly uncomfortable subject. "This bed is kinda on the smaller side for two people."

"I bet we can manage," he answered confidently with a smile. "Besides, I'll only need an hour of sleep at most."

"Time Lord thing?" I asked.

"Yes."

I absorbed this new information. He stood up from the wall.

"I'm going to go ask John something," he decided. "You should get to bed. We'll want to wake up extra early tomorrow."

"Aww," I pouted at the prospect of getting up early.

The Doctor chuckled at my pout. He pulled me to my feet and pressed his lips to mine. A minute later he pulled back.

"Good night, Holly." He said on his way to the door.

"Good night, Doctor," I replied, smiling, and sat back down on the bed.

I pulled up the covers as the bedroom door shut. I stared up at the old ceiling for a few silent minutes as the day reran in my head before slowly drifting off to sleep.

**Sooo? How was it? Good reviews please!**


	17. Nightmares

**I'm ba-ack! :) I haven't gotten as many reviews as I hoped, but I guess it'll do. Enjoy:)**

_I stared up at the old ceiling for a few silent minutes as the day reran in my head before slowly drifting off to sleep._

The nightmare consisted of Mark at first.

He'd somehow found us and the Doctor was nowhere to be found. I was trapped in the TARDIS and Mark was furious. He punched me and shoved me up against the wall.

"I will get you, Holly," he growled. "No matter when or where. I will find you, and I kill you."

I screamed for the Doctor, but he was gone. Mark twisted my arm violently, knocking me to the ground. He kicked me in the stomach and I coughed up blood. He hit me once more, most likely breaking a rib, before the nightmare morphed into a different scene. I was back at the Royal Gardens. There were at least a dozen of the raccoon creatures chasing me. I tried to get away, but everywhere I turned was a dead end. I couldn't remember what I was looking for. I was just running. A raccoon attacked me and cut a long gash on my arm. Another started biting at my ankles. I tried to throw them off, but more and more attacked. Trenilia laughed.

"Holly," I heard the Doctor's voice quietly, but couldn't tell where it was coming from. I fended off the raccoons clawing for my face."Holly."

"Doctor," I whispered in pain.

I saw his silhouette in the distance, beside Trenilia. The Doctor was willingly staying at her side and not coming to help me. I tried to call out to him, to plead for help, but a raccoon pulled its claws across my face. I felt blood drip down my cheek, along with the tears.

"Holly," he repeated, "Wake up."

I opened my eyes, still shaking. I felt something touch my arm and pulled away quickly, raccoons still on my mind, when strong hands captured my wrists. I yanked back urgently, Mark coming to mind. I felt that I was being held close against something. I slowly stopped struggling. I found that the Doctor was holding me tightly against his chest to keep me under control. He had his arms wrapped around me so I would stop thrashing around. He wasn't wearing his jacket. The shirt underneath was still smooth and unwrinkled, like he'd yet to sleep in it, and his bowtie wasn't on. I had a handful of his shirt in a death grip, shuddering.

"Shh," he whispered, carefully undoing my grip on his shirt, "It's okay. I'm here. Shh."

Tears slipped from my eyes as he soothed me by rubbing my back. I curled up closer to him, lips trembling from the dream. I could feel my pulse slowing after a few minutes of his murmuring and slowly rocking me. I leaned against his chest and he tilted my head up to look him in the eye. It was dark, but I could faintly see his serious eyes. They reminded me of when I had nightmares as a child. My father would calm me down with a look like he was willing to protect me, even if it was only from my imagination

"Holly, it's okay," he murmured again. "It was just a nightmare. It's gone now."

I sat curled up beside him on the side of the bed for a couple minutes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the Doctor asked quietly. "Who was it in your nightmare?"

"Mark," I whispered, "And then the raccoons."

"They will never hurt you ever again, Holly," he assured softly, "I promise you that."

"He said he would kill me," I mumbled sadly, looking away from the Doctor's face.

"Well, he won't." the Doctor tilted my head back again. "I will always protect you from him."

"You weren't there, in the dream," I whimpered. "And you watched the raccoons attacking me. You stayed by Trenilia and watched."

"I would never do that," he said, voice quiet but firm, to make me believe him. "_Never_. Now try to go to sleep."

"What if I have the nightmare again?" I asked in a whisper.

"You won't, I'm here. Trust me. Just try to get back to sleep. It's pretty important for humans."

He gently pushed me back so I was lying with my head back on the pillow.

"Thank you, Doctor," I whispered.

He nodded acknowledgment. When he turned, I heard him yawn despite himself. I grabbed his arm before he stood up and pulled him back.

"You're tired," I murmured. "You still haven't had any sleep yet."

I scooted over to give him room. The Doctor sighed to himself before giving in to my insisting tugging on his sleeve. He lay down beside me. He rolled onto his side to look at me. I assumed he had better vision in the dark than I did. I tucked a hand under my head and looked up at him. He brushed hair back from my face. Even in the dark, I was still aware of the proximity of his face in front of me. It took me a few minutes to clear my mind, though my eyelids were insistent on fluttering shut. I eventually fell back asleep to the sounds of the Doctor breathing.

**Yeah, I know, short. It's just a filler chapter while I write even more. I could've waited and had this be the beginning of the next, but I didn't, lucky you. There are still some decisions I have yet to make on where the story is headed after this, so you will have to be patient. Although, FYI reviews give me insentive to add more faster, so keep that noted. :) I won't waste your time further, have a nice day.**


	18. Changing Strategies

**Wow it's been a while! *sweeps dust from computer* So much has been keeping me from my story, I'm sorry! Here's another chunk. Hope you'll like it:)**

I woke up to the Doctor nudging my shoulder.

"Wakey wakey," he urged childishly and I sat up rubbing my eyes.

I yawned and stretched my arms over my head. The Doctor was standing beside the bed pulling on his tweed jacket. I rolled out of the bed. The Doctor put on his bowtie as I straightened my dress. I walked over to the Doctor before we left the room and straightened his bowtie. With a smile, we left the bedroom. Sarah was wandering the room, cleaning. She looked up when we came in the room.

"You're up early," she noted, "Will you be staying for breakfast?"

"No, thank you," the Doctor answered, "We need to go talk to someone. Thank you for your hospitality."

"Anytime," she smiled. "Was the bed comfortable enough for ya?"

"It was," he smiled, "Was the trip in my TARDIS cool enough?"

"It was indeed. Amazing. Thank you for showing us your time machine. It was life changin'."

We said goodbye and went out to the TARDIS. After disappearing for a moment, the Doctor came back to the main control room holding a basket of fruit. He handed it to me, from which I pulled a banana to eat, and set on typing in the new coordinates. The Doctor decided to park us a little ways from the camp, so it wouldn't cause any distraction or attract to much attention. After the bumping shaky landing, he looked outside.

"Good, we landed properly," he smiled proudly. "Come along, Holly."

I obediently followed the Doctor out of the TARDIS. We arrived at the edge of the mass of tents. There were dozens of men in uniform walking around. I felt eyes on me as we slipped passed the tents and people. I instinctively walked closer to the Doctor and took his hand.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" I mumbled the question. "I don't like the looks I'm getting."

"Me neither," the Doctor answered, "I figure someone will approach us in three...two...one-"

"Hey," a soldier called from where he was sitting. He stood up to walk over to us, "What're y'all doin' here. This here's not a place fer civilians."

"Right you are," the Doctor smiled, "However, beyond that, could you direct me to the highest authority in the camp?"

"Sure, that tent there is where he sleeps, but he might be with the Union prisoner over there," the soldier pointed in the right direction.

The Doctor thanked him and we continued.

"He couldn't have been more than seventeen," I murmured sadly.

The Doctor nodded in agreement before we found an older man, about forties, and a younger teen who was in a different uniform. They were talking in loud harsh tones when the Doctor interrupted. The man turned to us. He was going to order us to leave, I guessed, but he saw me and went with a polite approach.

"What're you doin' here, ma'am?" he asked me, "This ain't the place fer a lady."

"Hello," the Doctor greeted to gain the man's attention, "I'm John Smith." He stuck out a hand, which the man shook.

The Doctor put a hand on the man's shoulder and turned them away so he could speak quietly. I looked to the Union boy. He was probably nineteen at the oldest. He'd been watching the Doctor and other man, but looked at me when he felt my gaze.

"What's your name?" I asked softly.

"Jack Walker, ma'am," he stood taller, proudly.

"Oh," my hand went to my mouth to hold back a sad gasp.

"Somethin' wrong, ma'am?" he asked.

"No, it's just," I sighed, "We were just at your family's house before coming here."

"Really?" his eyes got a bit bigger in curiosity, "How're they doin'? Alright I hope."

"They're all doing fine," I assured him. "Your father is very proud of you."

He smiled at the note. Then the Doctor turned back to us. He'd probably heard us talking, I could practically guarantee it. He came over to my side, fingers entwining with mine. He motioned to the older man with his free hand.

"I suggested that he take a different plan of action today," he explained, "That I know for a fact will help them. In return, he's letting us take Mr. Walker here with us." A glance at the man, "Thank you for your time, sir."

"No, thank you," the man nodded and turned to walk off and shout at another soldier, "Robert Matthews, attention now!"

The Doctor spun me around to the way we'd come from and motioned for Jack to follow. Jack caught up to us on my side and looked to us both.

"Sir, if I may ask, how did you get him to let me leave?" Jack asked.

"One," the Doctor held up one finger, "Don't call me "sir"." he held up a second finger, "And B, no...hold on...two. Two, I told him a better battle plan for today and asked if I could have Jack back to get information for my team."

"You knew who I was? _And_ you told him a battle strategy!" Jack exclaimed and the Doctor held up a hand to silence him. I gave him a questioning look as well.

"We came back to stop a battle and you ended up giving him a better plan?" I said, "What are you up to, Doctor? And how did you know it was him?"

"Hold on, I thought his name was Smith?" Jack looked confused as we walked through the soldiers.

"One question at a time," the Doctor urged, "Or else _you'll _get confused. First, yes, I do know who you are. I saw the family resemblance the second we saw you sitting here. You have the same chin as your father and your mother's eyes. And Rebecca's hair color, which means it was passed down generations to both of you, despite your parents not having that hair color. Make any sense?" Jack slowly shook his head. "Yeah, doesn't matter. Also, I gave him the perfect plan, that would work I suppose, if I'd given him the proper information," the Doctor winked at me, "Ergo, we save lives. _That's_ what I'm up to. Have I answered all the questions? No, I haven't. Jack, I referred to myself as John Smith to save time. They would've had me stay here if I'd called myself the Doctor. Wouldn't you, thinking I was a doctor? We don't have time for that right now. Now I've answered everything, I have a question." the Doctor paused so Jack could keep up with what he was saying. "Would you rather go back to your camp now, or see your family first?"

"Well, I was caught a few days ago, so my folks wouldn't a heard 'bout it just yet," Jack said as he followed us to the TARDIS. "Also, my home and camp are two different ways," Jack motioned opposite directions.

"So you wanna see them?" I asked to get to the point.

"I'd love too, but it is a good ways away," Jack sighed.

We came to a stop beside the TARDIS. I patted the blue door with a smile. The Doctor passed me the key and I unlocked the door. I pulled the door open and the Doctor motioned for me to go first. I skipped over to the pilot chair and sat down comfortably. Jack was frozen in the doorway, staring at the inside of the TARDIS. I waved at him, which shook him out of his daze, and he came over to me.

"What is this place?" he asked in awe.

"This," I held my hands out to motion around, "is the TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"But it was a box," Jack said, "But it's bigger on the inside!"

The Doctor smiled, that being his favorite line.

"Yeah it does that, any questions?" I asked.

"How is being here going to take me to my family?"

"I am so glad you asked," I smiled, "Hold on tight, Jack Walker."

There was a second more of his confusion when the Doctor pulled a lever. He twisted a knob and I was thrown from the chair from the jarring ride. I heard Jack mumble a swear word as he clung to the rail for dear life. The Doctor swung around to catch my waist and help me stand.

"Hit the big green button over there for me," the Doctor instructed while pointing to the correct button.

He released me so I could slip around the console to the beat of the shaking TARDIS to hit the proper button. Jack still had wide, panicky, eyes when the TARDIS stopped shaking. I went to his side.

"You okay, Jack?" I asked and he shook his head nervously.

"I'll go get everyone," I informed the Doctor across the TARDIS.

I slipped out the door as the Doctor started talking to reassure Jack. Rebecca had been playing with a doll in the yard. She was looking up as I came out. A grin lit up her face and she ran over. She hugged me before speaking.

"What are you doing back?" she asked happily.

"Rebecca, can you gather the rest of your family?" I asked slowly, "We brought something you'll all want to see."

"A present?" she asked excitedly.

"Not exactly," I laughed at her enthusiasm. "But it will make your parents happy."

Rebecca nodded rapidly and ran off towards the barn calling out names. I smiled and went to the house. I opened the door and peered in.

"Sarah, Grace?" I called out.

They came out of the kitchen.

"We have a little surprise for you," I smiled. "A way of saying thanks for letting us stay here."

I motioned for them to come back outside. Rebecca had all the men and Elizabeth and I knocked on the TARDIS.

"For explanation first," I started, "We went to that camp, and found that they had a Union prisoner." Sarah gripped John's hand tightly and her face paled. "But in response to that, look who we have."

The Doctor and Jack came out of the TARDIS. Sarah gasped and ran forward. She hugged Jack, and was followed up by Rebecca, Elizabeth, and John. The rest of the group was just as happy, just not a huggy.

"We're dropping him off back at his camp, but figured you could use a little family time," the Doctor smiled with an arm around my shoulders.

"Thank you so much," Sarah said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Did y'all know that thing there moves?" Jack pointed at the blue box.

"They showed us yesterday," Elizabeth grinned. "Isn't it amazing!"

"Yes," Jack laughed despite the shock he'd just felt. "It is."

"Is your arm okay, Holly?" Grace asked me.

"Yeah, is it?" The Doctor asked.

"It's fine," I assured.

"You're injured?" Jack turned halfway to look at me.

I shook off the concern and nudged the Doctor.

"We should get back to Amy," I murmured. I hoped, in the back of my mind, that he still landed at the right incorrect time and that this hadn't screwed up the whole thing I remember watching on T.V.

"It's not like we'll get back late, Holly," the Doctor smiled, "We have a time machine."

"True," I admitted. "But still, she expects us right back, I assume."

"Then we'll be there," the Doctor said with a know-it-all tone.

"Fantastic," I smiled.

We waited a few yards from the happy family, hand in hand, until they got their hello's and goodbye's in order. Sarah kissed Jack on the cheek once more before he came back over to us. The family dispersed to different areas of the farm as we led the way back into the TARDIS. Jack still looked warily at the console as he put a hand on the rail for balance.

"Is there no way to make it a more stable trip?" he asked. "Surely if you can create this, you can add that much?"

"I didn't create it," the Doctor murmured, "Not me. As for the stability, no. I don't have enough people. So, hold on."

He laughed to ease the tension and started pressing what seemed like completely random buttons. The TARDIS quaked. I smiled to myself as I stumbled against the controls.

"Holly, lever over there, about 45 degrees if possible." the Doctor pointed, twisting a dial.

I stumbled a few feet past Jack to pull down the lever to what felt like forty-five. The Doctor's smile proved it was close enough to work. He pressed a button and the TARDIS finally came to a stop. He nodded to himself as he checked the screen before motioning to the door. Jack was the first one to get out, quickly. I giggled at the reaction with my tongue between my teeth. The Doctor slipped around to my side, putting an arm around me, as we left the TARDIS. We were close by to a cluster of tents when we exited the box. Jack was waiting patiently until he saw us. He motioned for us to follow him. We were only passed the first line of tents when a soldier saw us. His face broke out in a surprised smile.

"Jack!" he shouted, running through the tents to reach us. "And friends," he said when he saw us, eying me mostly, "He_llo_ there."

The Doctor tightened his arm around my waist possessively. The soldier noticed and turned back to Jack. His shout had attracted many other soldiers, who rushed over. They all hugged or patted Jack on the back while word spread around. Everyone demanded news how he'd escaped, but he didn't answer until a man, clearly in charge, got passed the group and stepped in front of us.

"Jack Walker, I didn't expect to see you again," the man commented. Then he broke into a smile, "Glad you're back." He looked to me and the Doctor, "Who er y'all and how did ya rescue him?"

All the other soldiers looked to us for an answer as well, though at least half a dozen were just looking me over. The Doctor looked around to each soldier, memorizing faces maybe, before looking back to the man in charge.

"I'm John Smith. I tricked the man in charge into giving him over to me. And since it was the right thing to do, I decided to give him back to you." he said.

The man nodded, and looked over at me, "And who is this young lady?"

"Holly, sir," I said quietly.

"Holly Smith, I assume?" he continued and I blushed, unsure of how to answer.

"Yes," the Doctor answered, looking pointedly at every soldier who'd been eying me, "Which means she's _off limits_."

I smiled to myself that he'd easily decided to call us married, though it was simply a perfect excuse to keep other men away. A few soldiers looked slightly disappointed.

"Could I have a word, sir?" he asked the man in charge, "About your strategy for today."

"How did you know we were gonna fight today?" he asked as the Doctor put an arm on his shoulder to turn them away from the group.

"Oh, lucky guess," he lied nonchalantly. Then he looked back at me and Jack, "Jack, stay with Holly, would you? Until I get back. Holly, don't get into too much trouble."

I shrugged and the Doctor chuckled. Jack came back to my side, quick to follow the Doctor's orders. The other soldiers crowded around us asking questions. I stayed quiet.

"So what's a gal like you travelin' round with him for?" Jack asked me.

"He accidentally landed in my school and I recognized him. He was..." I tried to explain without bringing up TV. "Sort of famous. Not for his machine, but I just recognized his face. He let me come on a trip. And then I sort of...well..."

"You fell in love with 'im," Jack finished knowingly.

"Kinda," I murmured.

"It's clear he likes ya more then a friend, too," Jack added.

I shrugged, "I'm scared to say it out loud to him."

"Well a girl like you's gotta find a good man," he said with a smile. "You knock 'em all head over heels until you found one. He seems like the right 'un for ya."

I smiled, blushing at the compliments. I tried to spin the subject back on him.

"So what about you?" I asked, "Any girls around your town catch your eye yet?"

"One," he admitted, rubbing his neck in embarrassment, "But she's spoken for; named Lucy."

I saw his eyes, though embarrassed, lit up at the mention of her name. I smiled sadly. That was how Mark had looked when he talked about me while we were dating. I had been so sure of him back then. I mentally shook my head to get passed the thoughts. A soldier asked Jack a question and he was answering.

"No, I don't know them, they just showed up," he said. "The Doctor tricked them into giving me up."

"How'd he do that?" A soldier, about twenty or so, asked.

I shook my head almost imperceptibly at Jack.

"I'm not sure," he then chose to answer, "Prob'ly said he was higher in chain of command or somethin'."

His friends accepted this easily, thank goodness. They'd begun to disperse around the camp around that time. Jack stayed loyally with me until the Doctor came back. He looked satisfied. Shooing Jack off after a quick farewell, he spun back to me.

"We're finished here, Holly. Next stop," he gave me a typical Doctor grin, "Amy's house."

He took a step forward to walk, but I grabbed his hand. I tugged him back and pointed the other way, the direction the TARDIS was. He glanced the way he'd been going and then started off the correct way without hesitation. I laughed quietly at his unique behavior and followed suit towards the edge of the camp and the blue box.

**Hope you enjoyed that. Any advice where I should take it? If it goes through what happens, that'll be typical...I need help from my fans- or even nonfans- to continue**


	19. Here Comes Goodbye

**Well this is it. This is the final piece to this story. It took me forEVER to find an idea on how to end it, and I might not have hit it just right. But here you go. Hope it was worth reading:)**

When the door shut, he turned to me.

"What's the plan here, Holly?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I didn't follow.

"You know everything that is going to happen," he said as he leaned against the console. "And you're too innocent to let bad things happen that have to."

I hung my head, but knew he was accurately describing the problem. I did know bad things, and it would torture me not to stop them. But they had to happen. I sighed and looked up at him.

"Do I have to leave?" I whispered tearfully.

"No," he jumped forward, grabbing my arm. "Of course not. I would never make you leave."

"But it's the best way to deal with the situation," I said softly. "You're right. I will want to stop everything that has to happen, and I can't do that."

The first things to come to mind were his death and wedding and River above all. I knew I had to leave so he could move on. He _had_ to, no questions asked. But I loved him. I had to love him so much that I could let him go.

His hand brushed my cheek and I realized I was crying. He pulled me close to his chest to hug me. I leaned against him for a long while. We stood in silence.

"Where do I go?" I asked quietly. "Not back to Mark."

"Where have you always wanted to live?" he asked me.

"Tennessee," I answered. It was true. I'd imagined a southern family in a perfect little neighborhood in the sun since I was a child.

"I can do that," I heard the smile in his voice and looked up curiously.

He guided me to sit as he fiddled with the dials on the console. I wondered what his plan was, but when I tried to ask, he shushed me politely. Well, as politely as you can shush someone. The TARDIS shook, landing wherever it was he had planned. He grabbed my hand, pulling me out the door. I saw Mrs. Evans standing on her porch.

"Doctor?" I asked as we walked over. "What are you planning?"

"Hello, Holly dear," Mrs. Evans smiled. "It's been too long."

"Actually it's only been one adventure," I murmured, looking curiously at the Doctor.

"I need to step out and do something," the Doctor said. "Would you mind watching Holly for a few minutes?"

"Not at all," Mrs. Evans answered, watching him carefully. "Has something happened?"

"Just a few minutes," he assured to me, kissing me on the mouth quickly. "I promise."

Then he ran off to the TARDIS, leaving us both confused. Mrs. Evans led me inside.

"Has something happened?" she asked.

"Well," I tried to figure out. I sighed. "I can't stay with him. For everyone's sake. Too much needs to happen. I couldn't," I felt like I was trying to convince myself more than her. "I couldn't stop it. He needs to move on and do what he has to do."

"River?" she asked.

I nodded, "You've seen what happens. With me in the picture it never would work like it needs to. But it's killing me," my voice slipped. "I love him."

"Oh," she sighed. "well that's a tough spot, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

"Perhaps it's for the better," I mumbled. I tried to smile, "I can always find him on DVD if I miss him, I guess."

"He'll come see you," Mrs. Evans said. "I'm sure he will."

"He rarely revisits companions, but I can hope."

There was a knock on the door and the Doctor peered in.

"I have a surprise for you," he smiled at me. But I saw the sadness behind it. "Come here."

I pulled the door open and saw the Doctor standing on the porch, a bundle of blanket in his arms. Was it? No…could it? I heard quiet noise and saw the blanket stir. A teeny hand moved.

"You said you would adopt when you left Mark," he said softly.

Tears sprang to my eyes as I stepped slowly forward. He placed it in my arms, but stayed close, the baby held against both of us. Big brown eyes on a tiny face looked up at me.

"She's all yours," he whispered. "The papers and everything else are done."

"She's mine," I whispered. "What's her name?"

"Vanessa."

"Vanessa," I repeated quietly, "Hi, Vanessa."

"And that's not all," he said.

I looked up from the baby. What more could he have done to make this any more perfect? He handed Mrs. Evans a piece of paper and led me to the TARDIS. I cradled Vanessa in my arms. She stared up at me, waving one arm and clutching the blanket in the other. I held her close as the TARDIS took us to the Doctor's next surprise. I followed him to the door and he pushed it open. I was met by sunshine on a perfect green front yard, with a perfect house behind it.

"Welcome home," he murmured in my ear.

I couldn't believe it. He adopted a little girl and bought a house for me. It was a dream. It had to be. I stepped forward onto the driveway. He soniced the front door open and I gasped.

"How did you do all this?" I asked with wide eyes.

"I called in a favor," he shrugged.

I looked around the completely furnished house. There were piles of papers on the table. He pointed each one out and described it. He had gone all out to make sure I was safe from everything and well suited for the future. I would be set for the next 60 years, even without a job. There was also a stack of information on Vanessa. She was two months old.

"You did all of this for me?" I looked up at him in awe.

"I want to make sure nothing bad ever happens to you ever again," he brushed a hand on my cheek. "If I can't be here every second, this seemed like a good start. I want you to live life to the fullest," he cracked a smile, "As full as a human can make a life."

Careful not to jostle Vanessa , he kissed me. It was a memorable kiss. One that lingered on my mind forever after that day. It set fire to any happiness I'd thought I'd felt before. It lasted forever and a day, and even that was too short a time span when it ended.

"I'll visit," he promised. "I swear I will."

"You'd better, mister," I murmured with a smile. "Now don't forget Amy."

"Yes, ma'am. Good-bye, Holly."

"Good luck, Doctor," I kissed his cheek. "Go be you're amazing, wonderful, fantastic self."

He saluted, and left the house.

It tore me in two to listen to the TARDIS leave, but at least the two halves of me were happy.

"That man, my Doctor," I smiled, "is absolutely incredible." Vanessa cooed and if possible, my smile got bigger. "I will tell you such stories, Vanessa. About him. Don't you forget it."

I saw a woman walk up to the door, and opened it before she could knock.

"Hello?" I asked, shifting my hold on Vanessa to make her comfortable.

"Hello," the woman, who looked to be in her thirties, said in a strong southern accent. "I'm your neighbor across the street, Monica Anderson. It's so nice to meet you. This is really a lovely place to live."

"Yeah," I smiled, looking at Vanessa, then to Monica, then out to the world, "Like it was picked by an Angel."

**So maybe that wasn't what you thought. Maybe that wasn't what you hoped. It probably wasn't what you hoped. I've probably lost a lot of friends by writing this. But sadly, it just wasn't meant to be for Holly to go on. Thank you for putting up with everything I've written. I hope you enjoyed it all, or at least 84.7% of it. I'd like to thank some of you for messaging me urging me to keep going and add more. This may not be what you hoped for, but at least I added something, right? Well, that about covers all I have to say. Good-bye for now, maybe for a while. And hopefully the REAL Doctor will be as brilliant as always and fill the void my story left.**


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